Fourteen Hallows
by shadowwritr
Summary: Sequal to Thirteenth Hour. Follow Alex as she stumbles into a world that has dark and brooding complications, not only for the undercover cops, but for Ranger's men as well.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Plum Characters, they are the envision of Janet Evanovich, I have just borrowed them to come out and play for a spell. Any other characters that have popped up from my plot are of my own making and those I do own. I am not getting any royalties from any of this, and these characters shall be returned when finished. End Disclaimer

Chapter 1

It had been a little over a year now, a long time since Alex sat down and really looked back at that day in China when she had taken the lives of two people. She was sitting on the roof of the house. The shingles were making pot marks all over her rear and upper back legs through the shorts she had on. At times a lot of things never felt right. This was one of those times. Joe was in the backyard barbequing, taking long pulls off the longneck he had in his hands as he skillfully flipped the meat with the other. Any other time Alex would have been down there right beside him, but with all the people over, she couldn't find the muster to even go down and join the throng.

The backyard get togethers had become sort of a common place within the last six months. Typically it was with them going over to another cops house. It wasn't long before Joe decided to start throwing a little of these things as well. Alex took a drink of the coke as she scanned the people in the back yard. The kids running around screaming and being chased by Bob belonged to Gazzara. She watched as Shirley started waving her hands around, Alex could only imagine what she was saying considering the distant look Eddie had on his face. Alex smirked and moved along to the next set of people, a few she hadn't seen before, others she could pick out with no problems, like Big Dog, and Costanza, and Antoine. Antoine had looked up and toasted his longneck to her, she gave his toast back with her own. She never felt like she truly belonged. Not in this world, because cops were of a different breed. They hung together, they formed a fraternity of brotherhood that never unraveled. You were either born into it or you became one of them. She had been born into it, but having lived so long away from her father, it was hard to get mixed in with this group when she was still rough around the edges.

Her eyes finally rested on the red head. She had seen her at several of these things. Alex knew her father knew the woman, she had even caught Joe staring on more than one occasion for longer than a sparse glance. Her name was Brogan, Detective Brogan Wexford. Alex could never understand why anyone would name a child that, because it defied all logic. She never said anything to anyone, because her first name was Medea, it wasn't any better. She swallowed the last of the coke and sat the can down beside her. The loose shingling gave way and the light tin can started slipping down. Alex moved to catch the can but missed it and was now flat on her stomach as she watched it roll off the edge and fall down, down, down. Alex closed her eyes when she heard the scream.

It was only an empty coke can, but the scream was from Grandma Angie. Alex opened her eyes and looked down at the Italian woman who had become the bane of Alex's existence.

"What do you think you're doing?" Angie Morelli yelled up at her.

"I'm sorry, Grandma Angie, it was an accident." Alex told her.

"Accident? Crawling around on a roof and rolling coke cans down on peoples heads is no accident. How is that to behave?" Angie Morelli continued her tirade.

"Alex get down." Joe said.

"Yes sir." Alex said.

Alex could still hear Angie Morelli going on about teenagers and the way young Italian women should behave as she sat back up and turned. Angie Morelli's voice was like a needle grating on a hack saw to Alex's ears. Alex stood up and looked back out over the yard as she brushed the loose shingle dust off and started making her way back to the bathroom window.

"Joseph, you aren't getting through to her on how a Morelli woman is supposed to be. I've told you what you should do, no respect this one has for herself or the Morelli name." Angie Morelli droned on.

"Mother! Not now." Joe told her.

Alex stuck her feet back through the window and then slid down into the shower. Alex could still hear the music, it wasn't overly loud, but it drowned out the noise outside. The roof was the only place where she could find some peace. She opened the beveled shower door and wished she had stayed outside on the roof.

Melinda Angela Thacker, who carried Grandma Angie's middle name and her first cousin, was grabbing the sink for all she was worth as Brady Dixon pounded his manhood into her. Alex stood there, it was like seeing one of those car wrecks that slowed rush hour traffic because a car slammed into the concrete dividers leaving a streak of mangled steel and devastation behind. When everything was over and all picked up what was left was a little bit of paint on the concrete, insignificant, just like all the others before it. It didn't matter, because it wouldn't be remembered.

This was the person that Grandma Angie said was the epitome of what a Morelli woman should act like. Alex had enough, Melinda was a little two-faced whore who got her into trouble every time when it came to Grandma Angie or Grandma Bella. She was tired of not being good enough, tired of not measuring up with what her Grandma Angie thought was right. According to Grandma Angie, her Joseph could do no wrong, and what hurt Alex the most was that she was more like Joe but Grandma Angie couldn't see it.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" Alex growled at the pair of them.

"Alex!" Melinda was scrambling at the summer dress trying to get it back on. Brady looked at her, he had lost all motion and was still buried full hilt inside her cousin.

"You make me sick." Alex stepped out of the shower and walked around them making sure she didn't touch either one of them.

"Alex, you can't say anything, you have to promise me." Melinda demanded of her.

"I don't have to promise you shit." Alex opened the door and went out slamming it behind her.

She headed for her bedroom and opened the door. Alex couldn't stay here, at least not right now. She had Melinda's number and she would hold the cash ticket until she needed to claim it. Alex opened her closet door and reached for a pair of jeans, she shucked out of the shorts while kicking her shoes off and put the jeans on. Her black riding boots was in the corner of the closet and she pulled them out and went and sat on her bed to pull them on. Her bedroom door opened and Melinda came in.

"Alex. You can't say anything." Melinda pleaded. "I'll talk to Grandma Angie, I'll make her see that you aren't so bad."

Alex pushed her right foot in the boot and looked up at Melinda. "I don't need your pathetic help with Grandma Angie." She looked back down and put her left foot in the other boot and then laced them up.

"Look, I can speak with some of the guys at school. It's our senior year. You won't have to keep sitting at the freak table anymore at lunch." Melinda told her.

Alex gave a bark of laughter. "The freak table?" Alex stood up. "Is that what your snobby little group thinks? No thanks, I'll pass. Get out of my room."

Alex opened the door and made sure Melinda went out.

"Then what do you want Alex?" Melinda asked.

"For you to leave me the fuck alone." Alex turned and headed down the hall.

Brady was standing at the top of the stairs. Brady Dixon was twenty-seven, he was on what Joe had told her was the fast track at the station. He already had done four years in a patrol car, and because of his age he had been moved to the undercover side of the station so he could start working in the school because of his young boyish looks. He had been working in this division for the last two years. Brady hadn't lost the youthful charm, it still oozed out of him, along with his male testosterone. He pushed his blond hair back on his head.

"Where ya going Alex?" Brady asked.

"It's none of your business Dixon. Last I checked you don't live in this house." Alex told him.

"You didn't see what you thought you saw." Brady said.

Alex stopped in front him and looked up at him. He was a good head taller than she was, and he had a good sixty or seventy pounds on her.

"It's a damn good thing I didn't see anything, because if I had, I would have nightmares for the rest of my life." Alex crossed her arms in front of her and glared at him.

"Cute, real cute. You think that's going to hurt me?" Brady asked.

"No." Alex said.

"You know, most people your age like a man like me. That could have been me and you in there."

"When pigs sweat." Alex moved around him and started heading down the stairs.

"What do you mean you and Alex?" Melinda asked.

Alex jogged down the rest of the stairs. She didn't want to hear it, didn't need to hear it. Alex got to the last step and she saw Brogan. Brogan gave her the once over.

"You didn't have that on awhile ago." Brogan said.

"Felt like changing." Alex told her.

Alex heard footsteps thundering down the stairs.

"It's when pigs fly, Alex." Brady said as he came up beside her. "Get your clichés right."

Alex turned and looked at him. "No, doofus. It's exactly what I said. When pigs sweat. Pigs don't have sweat glands, it's physically impossible for them to do so." Alex turned and looked at Brogan. "Excuse me Detective Wexford, but the stench just rose to a level that is not very conducive to my sinuses and I fear I may go into anaphylactic shock if I don't get fresh air soon."

Brogan gave her grin. "Fresh air include going for a ride?"

Alex saw her look at her boots. "Possibly. Never know these things until you do them."

She turned and started walking for the door and scooped up the keys to her bike on the way. Alex went straight for her bike, a 1967 Triumph, it still looked the same, all trashed out, but it was a classic. There were a few people standing around it.

"Sweet machine." One of the guys said.

"Thanks." Alex said. She looked at the guy who said it. "You're Dawson, right?"

He gave her a slight grin, "Yeah, I'm Dawson. Your Dad's been talking about me, huh?"

"Maybe." Alex said.

She couldn't help from overhearing most of the conversations that took place in the house. Dawson's name had been thrown around quite a bit. He was going before the shooting review board. He had shot a kid who was strung out on methamphetamines. From what Alex had understood around the poker table one night was that Dawson was having a hard time with it. It was self defense, plain and simple. When she heard it, it reminded her of seeing Blade coming at her. That was the first night in a long time she had even dreamed about Blade.

"Hope it wasn't anything bad." Dawson said.

Alex looked at him; she schooled her face back to neutral features. She hadn't meant to get lost in that again.

"Not at all, wanna ride?" Alex asked him.

"Sure." Dawson said.

Alex got on and put the key in the ignition. She cranked the bike over and pulled the helmet off the handle bars and then strapped it on. She grabbed Joe's helmet off the other bike and handed it to Dawson. Dawson waited for her to turn the bike around and then he climbed on. She weaved in and out of the parked cars in the drive and then hit the road. Alex could hear Dawson's breathing through the speakers in the helmet. Joe and Alex went for rides and more often than not they ended up talking while they rode.

"How's it going?" Alex asked.

"Fine, where are you taking us?"

"Just for a drive. From what I've heard, you could use one."

Alex turned the bike for the highway.

"What all have you heard?"

Alex could hear the uncertainty in his voice. "You know, when people are strung out on meth it makes them do crazy things. They don't know reality from what the drug is making them do."

"I don't need a psych exam from you. What would you know about anything?" Dawson had his hands on her hips and she could feel him dig in a little. She really didn't mind, because she knew he wasn't doing it on purpose, it was just a reflex when someone was angry.

"I know what its like to kill someone in self defense." Alex changed lanes and kept driving. "I've killed two people Dawson. It's not easy knowing you took someone's life. Even if they did deserve it, I still did something that was unthinkable. I walked around for months thinking everyone knew, like I had a label on my forehead."

"How did you get through it?" Dawson asked.

"I haven't, not totally anyway. I heard the guys talking about your shooting one night at poker. Nobody's talking behind your back like you're the bad guy here. It's just I know what it's like to have someone who comes at you with a crazy look in their eyes. One that's madden and totally deranged."

Alex didn't say anything for awhile, she knew Dawson was chewing on what she had just said. She changed lanes and went around an eighteen wheeler. The hands on her hips started to ease up.

"The only reason I'm telling you this is because I need to talk about it to someone whose been there. The psych couch only works out part of it; it's the living with it that gets you down."

"I don't see how it's the same Alex. I shot that kid while I was on duty. Christ you are not even out of school yet. How old are you?"

"Sixteen. My age doesn't matter, and being on duty or off duty doesn't matter either. I know you didn't ask for this and it's not like you're going to jump off the bike, so I pretty much have you to myself right now. When you get cleared from this shooting, and you will from what I've heard, the feeling doesn't go away. It stays with you and lives inside you. It's like it wants to take a life of its own and will drag you down if you let it. That's what you can't let happen."

Alex took the exit and slowed down at the street light at the exit.

"How do you stop it?" Dawson asked.

Alex gave a slight chuckle. "Take one day at time. Getting up in the morning and doing what you have to do. It gets easier, but there are times when it tries to come back and grab you. It's those times that can be scary, because you feel like no one out there understands what you're going through."

Alex went under the bridge and then took the entrance ramp back onto the highway on the other side.

"I know I'm younger than you, I'm not a cop, and I'm not trained to fire a weapon. I just wanted you to know, that when you feel like you're the only one out there and no one understands and if you want to call and talk I'll be there. I'm tired of feeling like I'm the only one out there."

The ride back was quiet. Dawson didn't say anything. Alex didn't push it, she knew this was something that couldn't be pushed. Joe hadn't pushed it with her and she was thankful that he hadn't. Alex pulled the bike back in the drive and turned it off. She took off her helmet and put it back on the handle. Getting off she took the keys out of the ignition and looked at Dawson who was still sitting on the bike. He took the helmet off and Alex looked into his blue eyes. She saw only understanding there.

Alex felt the arm go around her shoulders and she looked up at Joe. "Heard you went for a ride."

"Yeah I did."

"Did it help?" Joe asked.

"Yeah it did." Alex looked over at Dawson who got off the bike. He was the same height as Joe, his hair was shorter and it was blonde. Dawson was a little muscular across the chest, but he had a slight beer belly going.

Dawson extended the helmet out to Joe. "You have an incredible daughter."

Joe took his helmet. "Thank you." Joe put the helmet on the other grip of Alex's bike. "Foods done if you're hungry."

"Thanks, but I need to go think on some things." Dawson said.

"Stop by anytime Dawson." Joe said. Joe kissed the top of Alex's head and turned her back to the house. "You hungry?"

"Starved."

Alex made it to the door with Joe when she heard her name. She turned and saw Dawson at his red Dodge Charger.

"Yeah?" Alex asked.

"I'll call you."

Alex had a slight smile on her face as she watched Dawson get in and drive off.

"Does this have anything to do with the dreams that started happening again?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, it does." Alex looked up at him. "It's okay if he calls isn't it?"

"Yes Kitten it is. I think it'll do you both some good." Joe kissed her forehead and then walked back into the house.

Alex took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She turned and walked into the house. Walking into the backyard Alex saw Melinda sitting by Grandma Angie, Brady was across the way pulling a beer with the guys. Alex walked over to the table Joe was sitting at and sat down across from him. Brogan was sitting on Joe's left; her red hair kept coming out from behind her ears as the wind picked up. Alex saw Joe give Brogan a look and then he looked back across to her.

"You get enough air to breathe?" Brogan asked her with a smile.

Alex looked at her, the smile reached Brogan's green eyes. It even seemed the freckles she had on her face smiled right along with her. "Yup. I sure did."

"Good, I'm not real good with anaphylactic shock."

"What are you two talking about?" Joe asked.

"Sinuses, you wouldn't understand." Brogan told him as she picked up her beer. Brogan looked back at Alex and gave her a wink. Alex reached for the chicken and started loading her plate. She liked Brogan; Brogan didn't treat her like a street kid. She shot straight from the hip and put things right out on the table. Alex never heard her dance around anything before, but she was grateful, she didn't want to talk about Brady. That was one man she wanted out of her head all together.


	2. Chapter 2

Joe leaned back in the lawn chair, he watched as the dusk threw out light red and orange colors on the low hanging haze. Only a few people remained, his mother left shortly after eating with his niece Melinda in tow. Brady Dixon was tossing horse shoes against Carl. Brady was way off and Carl kept jumping out of the way, the horse shoe kept trying to ring his leg.

"Brady, you're so damn drunk you can't see straight now." Carl nagged him.

"Am not Carl." Brady slurred as he staggered while holding up another shoe to toss.

Brogan came out of the house, snagged the other empty lawn chair by Joe, and sat down. She handed him one of the beers she picked up while in the house.

"Did you see where Alex went off too?" Joe asked.

"She said something about a paper for Furgeson." Brogan told him. "She's hitting the books rather hard for the first week back isn't she?"

Joe looked over at Brogan. "Furgeson is her AP English teacher. This is her third paper she's written for him. He's demanding, you ought to have seen the book list. I think I cleared out half the book store for this jerk."

Joe heard an upstairs window fly open and he tilted his head back to see Alex putting her head through holding a book out.

"What is this?" Alex asked.

"One of the books that I had to buy that was on the reading list from hell." Joe told her. "Why?"

He saw Alex look back at the book, "Catch!" Alex said and let the book go. "I'm not reading that."

Joe reached out just in time before it hit Brogan in the head, he judged the distance wrong and fell into her chair and both of them went sprawling in the lawn covered in beer. He heard the cackle of laughter as it drifted down from the window.

"Morelli, I heard you were fast and loose at the station. Next time warn a girl before you want to go take a tumble, I'll make sure I'm properly attired for it." Brogan said.

Joe looked down into her green eyes; he could see the mischief twinkle in the green flecks. She was biting her lips together trying not to let the grin spread across her face. "The tumbles I like to take require birthday suit attire."

He looked down at the white blouse she had on and noticed how it clung to her chest which was covered in beer. Everyone around him was laughing, that was the last thing he felt at the moment. Joe took his time looking back up to Brogan's face. Red head's normally weren't his thing, but the woman below him had something that attracted him to her. Their eyes locked and Joe wrestled with the private communication that was going on between them. _I know but we can't do anything about that right now. I come with strings Brogan and I have to be sure._

Joe moved reluctantly off of Brogan. He extended his hand to her and pulled her up to her feet. "We need to get you cleaned up."

"I'll go upstairs and deal with the book dropper." Brogan told him.

Joe grinned at her as he stooped down and retrieved the book. His grin left his face as he saw the cover. It had butterflies, not really a bad cover at all. The book was titled 'The Collector' by John Fowles.

"They want her to read that?" Brogan asked.

"I only skimmed the titles, I didn't pay attention when I handed the customer service guy the list." Joe looked back up at Alex who had stopped laughing and was watching the both of them. "Kitten, go find that list in my office and bring it down."

"Yes Sir." Alex said and shut the window after she went back inside.

"She shouldn't have to read that." Brogan said. She reached to the middle of her shirt and pulled it away from her wet beer soaked body. "That's a sick book, twisted."

Joe turned and placed an arm over Brogan's shoulders. "Have you read it?"

"Yes. It'll give anyone nightmares." Brogan looked at Joe who dangled the book over her shoulder which was now pressing her wet blouse back to her chest.

"Do you have those often? I know a great nightmare cure." Joe said with a cocky grin on his face. Then he felt the slap of paper on his chest and he turned to see Alex.

"The list." She told him, and then turned to Brogan. "Don't believe that bullshit; he just wants to get in your pants."

Joe moved quickly, and grabbed Alex's wrist, the same one that held the paper in her hand. He pulled her to him. "You're ruining my game pitch here, bud. We're supposed to be on the same team."

Brogan started laughing. Alex grinned up at Joe. "That pitch was too wide and fouled at the plate, so it's zero and one, she didn't swing."

Joe groaned, "Okay smart-ass, why don't you stand in as relief pitcher." Joe released Alex's wrist and took the paper away from her.

Alex looked at Brogan, "Detective Wexford, I do believe I owe you an apology for your current condition. I think I can find you something to wear if you would follow me please."

Joe watched as Brogan stopped laughing at the pair of them. "I would like that very much Alex. Thank you."

He saw the grin that crossed over Alex's face as she turned and walked into the house. Brogan followed Alex; she stopped before going into the house and turned to look back at Joe. "She makes a good relief pitcher."

Joe grinned at her, "Yes, but I still have to get you to swing."

"Then pitch it over the plate next time, fast balls are your best bet."

Joe watched her walk back in his house, as the swell of her hips swung gracefully from side to side. He swallowed hard and then pulled his thoughts away from the no nonsense Irish woman that had found a way to get on the good side of his teenage daughter in a matter of months. He looked back at the book in his hands. What crawled up under his skin the most was that this one book found its way into most sexual predator's homes than any other; the FBI had it documented. To him it was like a blueprint for a stalker. The main character had the drive and determination enough to pull off what he did and got away with it. The scary side of life is things like this happen. This one particular book had killers who did the exact same thing out in California.

He looked back up at the window which was to his daughter's bedroom. He didn't allow Alex to read the slam books, but he didn't hide the fact of what happened to her mother either. Joe fully understood the reason why Alex didn't want to read this book. Furgeson could go to hell for all he was concerned. Joe felt his daughter had enough to deal with without reading a book that brought up the harsh reality of her life. He never stepped on a teacher's toes before. Joe had a lot of respect for those people; they were underpaid and over worked just as much as any service person who worked for the state. They put there lives on the line just as much as police officers do. They work day in and day out with the lower dregs of society and try to teach them and help them to better themselves.

Joe turned to see Carl help Brady off his lawn. "You going to take Dixon home?"

Carl looked up. "I better, or he'll be asleep on your couch tonight."

"He isn't sleeping here. I hear he specializes in teenagers, I'm not taking that chance." Joe told him.

Carl laughed, "From what I heard, Alex has put him down. So I wouldn't worry about Alex." Carl heaved and Brady's head lolled. "Damn Brady, if you don't help me I'm gonna leave your piece of shit carcass in the middle of the road and let someone run you over. Use your feet man."

Joe walked over and saw the ice chest sitting not to far away. He went over to that and picked it up. "On the count of three."

"One, two, three." Carl said and then jumped back as Joe tossed the melted down ice all over Brady.

Brady started sputtering. "What the fuck?"

"Time to go." Joe told him.

"How'd I get all wet?" Brady asked.

"This big giant bird flew over and took a piss on you." Carl said. He reached for Brady's shoulder and started pulling him out of Joe's yard. "I think if I were you, I'd hold off on these outdoor shin-digs. Trash is starting to roll in with them."

"I think so too. Later Carl." Joe headed for the house, he walked in through the back door into the kitchen. He expected to see a mess, but the place had been picked up already. Bob was sprawled out in the dining room fast asleep and Joe stepped over him as he made his way into the living room.

He sat down in his chair and flipped on the TV with the remote and started surfing channels looking for a game. Joe looked over to the stairs and saw Brogan coming down them. She was dressed in a pair of his sweats and had on his Ranger's Jersey. As her bare feet hit the last step, she looked over to him.

"Wasn't my idea." Brogan said blushing.

Joe drank in her face and continued to look her over. He looked back up into her eyes. "Do you want me to ground her?"

Brogan moved away from the stairs and walked over to the couch and sat down. "No, she's doing my laundry. She gets points for that."

Joe leaned on his knees as he sat up and turned his head to look at Brogan. "She gets points for putting you in my clothes. You look sexy as hell in that Brogan."

Brogan moved her feet up under her. "Thanks."

Joe moved to the other end of the couch, "Hand me your feet."

Brogan turned and gave him a look, "What are you going to do?"

"Just a massage." Joe said. Brogan stretched out and handed her feet to him. Joe started working the balls of her feet with his thumbs pressing into them. "How did the Division Gang Task Force leader get on the good side of my daughter so quickly?"

"I wouldn't quite call it her good side. I think Alex is giving me enough rope to see how far I'll go before I hang myself." Brogan told him.

Joe watched as she closed her eyes and he moved down her foot to the heel. "Possibly, but you had her back at lunch today. You are covering for her over something."

"You're imagining things." Brogan opened her eyes. "I don't cover for anyone."

"Bullshit." Joe said, "Why was Dixon even over here today? He's your lap dog and wags his tail where you send him. Alex said she almost called him by his real name at school on Wednesday when he walked into her class. What's going on?"

"Brady Dixon isn't going to be the only one there. I had to get outside help, they show up on Monday. Brady was here today because I thought some of the kids that Alex hangs with at lunch would show up." Brogan sat up.

Joe wouldn't let her pull her feet back. "What are you implying Brogan? That my daughter is involved in some gang related activity at the school she attends?"

"Absolutely not. Normally there isn't enough gang related activity in a Burg school to worry about. There is a nasty odor coming out of that school though."

Joe watched her face, he watched her eyes, and noticed she was relaxing again. He started working on her feet again. "What's different about who she hangs with? Melinda introduced her into school and I don't understand what their friends would be doing under an investigation."

Brogan turned and looked away from him. When she didn't turn back and look at him a sick feeling hit the bottom of his stomach. "She doesn't hang around Melinda does she?"

Joe put Brogan's feet down and moved them so he could get off the couch. Brogan's hand came up and grabbed his arm. "Don't do this Joe. You're over reacting here. Don't go up there and put demands on her to take sides."

He looked at Brogan's hand on his arm. The place where she was touching him was warm and it was radiating out and through his body. Joe put his hand over hers and removed it. "Brogan, I'm just finding out that my daughter has lied to me over the last year about who she's been sitting with at school. Don't tell me I'm over reacting. I have every right to find out why she's been doing it."

Joe moved and headed for the stairs. "Alexis, come down here."

He waited at the bottom of the steps until Alex was within reach and waited patiently for her to answer.

"What?" Joe could see confusion in those blue eyes of hers.

"What did Mel tell you at lunch on Friday again? You know that joke, I couldn't remember it and I wanted you tell it to Brogan." Joe said.

Joe watched as Alex looked over to Brogan and back to him. "I can't remember. You want me to call Mel and get her to tell it to me again?"

"Sure." Joe said. He watched Alex move around him and then he lowered the bomb. "Put her on speaker phone so we can all hear it."

Alex stopped half way to the phone and slowly turned back and looked at Joe. "You know, I think I wrote it down, let me run upstairs and I'll get it."

She started for the stairs and Joe reached out and grabbed her arm. "Why so you can go out the bathroom window and not give me this beautiful song and dance routine you are doing?"

Joe watched as Alex looked at Brogan and then back to him, he watched as she slowly started putting it together.

"Fucking Brady." Alex said.

"Watch your mouth. Cussing doesn't make you a grown up. Why have you been lying to me about who you hang with?" Joe asked.

Alex took her arm back away from him. "What do you want to hear Joe? That's its peaches and cream. You took me away from the ghetto, the war zone in which I lived. You listened to Grandma Angie and told me I had to hang with Mel. Melinda and her little gang of rich snobbish friends. I have inks, I don't talk like they do, I don't walk like they do, and they told me I didn't belong. I walked. I ain't hanging where I get dissed. They wanna go out and get smack and lathered up slice jumping, I don't play that way."

Joe's head was reeling, he knew that inks was tattoos, he knew she said they were disrespecting her. Smack was drugs, he was pretty sure of that, he hadn't needed a slang translation in a long time. He looked at Brogan she was standing a little away behind Alex and it stunned him at what he saw in her eyes as she looked at his daughter. She had concern in them. Brogan looked at him.

"What is lathered up slice jumping?" Joe asked.

"Sex orgies." Brogan said.

"Shit!" Joe turned around and walked over to the stairs and grabbed the railing. "How does this go down Alex or do you even know?"

"I don't know. I never stayed long enough to find out." Alex told him.

Joe turned around and looked over at her. "Who do you hang out with?"

"Everybody calls 'em freaks at school. Lasers a druggie, he's flying on Havana most of the time. Jumper is an adrenaline junkie, he's done a bullet in juvie for GA. Striker is a General for Lords and Ladies, he's done a bullet in county." Alex folded her arms across her chest.

A bullet was a year in the pin, GA he understood as grand theft auto, and he didn't like the sound of Striker at all. Striker had gone to jail in the big house, not some baby jail. Joe had seen her take this stance when she was prepared to fight. He looked at Brogan and he could tell Alex just said something that Brogan was really interested in. "What are the Lords and Ladies?" Joe asked Alex.

"Some outfit of Strikers and before you ask, no I'm not in it. I go to school; I come home get my homework done and then to the dojo, then back home. Only time it varies is when I get bored of the same routine and go blow off some steam."

Joe moved over and stood in front of her and bent down so he was on eye level. "I'm not blaming you for anything. Why didn't you come tell me about this sooner? Why didn't you tell me what Mel was up to? Why did you feel the need to lie to me about being with them?"

Joe could see the tears starting to come in her eyes.

"I was doing the best I could Joe. Grandma Angie kept saying that I'm not a true Morelli woman. That I don't dress the way a woman is supposed to dress, that I should be more like Melinda." The tears that threatened to fall started falling fast. "I'm not good enough for her. I don't know what else to do."

Joe pulled Alex to him and then kissed her forehead. "Forget what Grandma Angie said. You got it right Alex."

He looked at Brogan; Brogan was looking at the ceiling. When she focused back on them, Joe could tell she was holding back, giving him the time he needed with Alex. He knew Alex had tried to please his mother, tried to get along with the family. Mooch had taken to her right off, but the others hadn't, he thought Melinda had though. He didn't know his niece was doing those things, and it had him worried. Not only for his niece; but also for Alex because she was in the middle of something that wasn't her fault.


	3. Chapter 3

Lester had been sitting by the phone, Alex hadn't called yet. This was not like her Alex was like looking at clock. She had always been punctual. Lester got up off the couch and headed into the kitchen, he had permanently moved into the apartment he had shared with Bobby. Alex always came by on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he had been tutoring her in math. Lester knew Morelli had known about the phone calls, but he wasn't sure if Morelli knew about the tutoring. He looked at his watch again. It was now 10:30pm, it was Saturday but still, Alex had not failed to call.

The phone rang and Lester grabbed the receiver sitting on the base in the kitchen. "Running a little late aren't you?" he asked.

"You expecting someone?" Ranger asked.

"Shit, what do you need Carlos?" Lester opened the refrigerator and pulled out the last light beer. He popped the top and took a swig.

"We have meeting at the station that needs going down. Wexford called and she wants all the players."

"Now?" Lester asked. "Carlos this is an odd time to meet at the station."

"I know. But it's her show. Get out of your funk and get there."

"Ten four." Lester hung up.

He moved to the bedroom downing the beer. _I'm not in a funk, I didn't hear from my girl._ Lester smiled, Alex was his and he knew it. They weren't on real good speaking terms when she went to China, but when they got back and he saw Stephen, he knew Alex had a lot to do with that. All of them were blown away, she floored them all. Stephen had lived with Jose for six months, while he worked on getting his memories back. Stephen was now living in his old room up on the fourth floor of the building on Haywood.

Lester pulled down a tank top off one of the hangers in his closet and pulled it on. He slipped into some sweats over his boxers and grabbed his shoes. Lester sat on the bed and looked at his watch again. She wasn't going to call, it was getting too late. He put his shoes on and resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to talk to Alex tonight.

Lester left and headed down to his car and got in. He turned on the radio and then pulled out of the parking spot. If he hit the traffic lights right he would be at the station in ten minutes. He tried to tell himself that one missed phone call was fine. Alex was probably tired. Lester knew Furgeson was driving her insane with the amount of homework he gave his senior AP class. Lester convinced himself that Alex must have fell asleep with her nose in a book trying to get ahead for Furgeson. He felt better about that than worrying that she was hurt.

He pulled into the station guest lot and turned off the car. When he got out he saw Ranger, Stephanie, Tank, Stephen, and Tank's little cousin, Willie 'Siloh' Baker. It wasn't often they teamed with the police on a sting operation. Since Detective Wexford came in from the Brooklyn, the Gang Task Force had gone through a major overhaul. Within the last year, the gangs around Trenton had quieted down a lot. Lester gave the woman credit, she went inside neighborhoods that most people wouldn't dare going in being white.

Stephen slapped Lester on the back as he ambled over to the group. "Why so down bro?"

"Not down, just ready to get this done." Lester said.

"Got a hot date?" Tank asked.

"No."

Lester didn't feel like talking about it. He and Alex had talked about it enough; they were just waiting for her senior year to come to a close. He was twenty-eight and was turning twenty-nine this year. Lester understood more than anyone the ramifications if he tried to date Alex without her father's permission. Morelli had reluctantly allowed him to stay in Alex's life. Not that he hasn't tried all his tactics to throwing him out of Alex's life. The only thing that saved him was Alex wouldn't have any of it. She had come out and told Morelli she needed both of them. Lester did what he promised Morelli, he gave him the time he needed to earn Alex's trust, but Alex still held a lot in reserve.

The station was quiet when the group trooped in. Lester stayed in the background as Ranger told the night clerk who was running the phones out front that he was here to see Wexford. Lester noticed when Wexford came to get them she wasn't actually wearing police issued attire. He could have sworn he'd seen that Jersey before, when she turned around he knew he'd seen that jersey before since Morelli was stenciled on the back of it in white letters.

"Is that Joe's jersey?" Stephanie asked Brogan.

Brogan turned and looked at Stephanie. "Yeah, had an accident over at his place earlier this evening with beer. You're Stephanie, right?"

"Yes, and what ever you've heard about me, it's not true."

"Oh, so you do blow things up?" Brogan asked and then gave her grin.

Lester saw Stephanie glare at Brogan.

"Chill out, I was being factious. I know you don't blow anything up." Brogan turned, "We're meeting in the conference room. One of my guys couldn't make it, he's shit faced and sleeping it off somewhere. I'll jump his ass tomorrow morning when I know he has a hangover. It'll make it all the more pleasurable."

"So do you still need a front man in the school or did your guy make it into the group you were telling me about?" Ranger asked.

"He didn't make it into the group I wanted him in. I had unforeseen complications on that front." Brogan said. She paused at the conference room door and opened it up. "Food stuff is on the table, I don't know exactly how long this is going to last."

Lester walked in, he had his hands ground deep into his pockets and was looking down at the floor when he walked in. He found a seat at the table near the guys and reached for a water. He looked up and saw Morelli sitting across from him.

"I thought you were in homicide still," Lester said.

"Temporary assignment change, orders just came down." Joe leaned back and looked to the door. Lester watched him pat the empty chair next to him. What Lester didn't expect was seeing Alex walk around the table and sit down next him.

Lester looked her over, he could see she had been crying, her eyes were still puffy and red but it looked as if she had stopped only a while ago. She looked at him and he could see the sadness in her eyes, his heart came into his throat as he felt the pounding in it as he tried to swallow. He didn't like it when she cried. He looked at Morelli who was watching him.

Glancing around the table he saw a few other cops, in normal clothes and a few faces he'd seen around.

Brogan went to the head of the table. "Lets get this started," She looked around the room. "Hamilton, Davis..." Lester didn't pay attention to the names as she went around the room. He noted that she didn't mention Alex.

"Now, you wanted to know about my point man Ranger. He is inside, but fell into the wrong group. What happened was it's a little harder to get inside this group. They have a ring leader of sorts who sits at a certain table at lunch and it's hard to approach them." Brogan said.

"You haven't given me enough to go on. You want me to send a point man in then I'm going to need names at this table. I want checks run. I'm not sending in one of my younger men into something that I don't fully understand." Ranger said.

Brogan pulled the file out and slid it across the table to Ranger. "Here's your list. You leave the one that I circled out of any back ground checks."

Ranger snatched the file and opened it. Lester noticed he was reading and then put the folder down. Lester noticed his eyes settled on Alex and stayed there. "Why couldn't your point man fall into this group?" Ranger asked.

Lester watched as Alex twirled the water bottle cap, he knew she could feel Ranger looking at her. He could see she didn't want to address Ranger's stare.

"According to him, his cover would have been blown. And I agree with him." Brogan said.

"Who's the point man you have inside?" Ranger asked.

"Brady Dixon." Brogan said. "He's my MIA."

Lester glanced at Brogan and could tell she wasn't too happy with her point man.

"Why didn't he approach Miss Morelli? He had a way in at that table through her." Ranger stated.

"Miss Morelli is the one who almost blew his cover. She almost slipped and said his real name and had to cover it up. He can't afford to be given away and he's already made strides in getting an invite to the next party."

Lester watched as Alex looked up and glanced at him. She mentioned the misfits she hung with at lunch, but he didn't think they were so bad, considering where she came from, this group didn't have near the records of most of the school she had gone to before.

"Who's boss at the table Alex?" Ranger asked her. "Because I'm tired of beating around the damn bush, I'm getting ready to walk and call this show a waste of my time and money."

"We need to leave her out of this Ranger." Brogan said. "She isn't a part of this and I don't want her involved."

"I didn't ask you. If I wanted this shit I would just let Morelli blow smoke up my ass." Ranger stood up.

Lester rose as well as the others.

"Don't leave." Alex said. She looked over to Brogan. "You want a point man at the table, I'll get one in. You should have asked me sooner instead of sending Brady in there to just make a dickwad of himself."

Lester sat back down. He looked at Ranger who gave Alex a nod. Joe looked at Ranger. "I haven't blown smoke up your ass in awhile Ranger. I would think I rather moved on from that."

Brogan sat back and looked at Alex. "I don't want you involved Alex."

Lester watched as Alex looked at Joe. "You know where I stand on this. This is your decision. Your back is going to be covered." Joe told her.

Alex looked at Ranger. "Don't go there with me Tiger. You should know better."

Lester watched as Alex gave a grin. She looked back at Brogan. "Two against one, I'll take my odds. Thank you for not wanting me involved, but I don't see how it will work without me."

"I just want to know what this all about?" Stephanie asked.

"Sex." Alex looked over at Stephanie. "That's what it's about, and lots of it."

Alex took a drink of her water and looked at Ranger. "Striker is the lead at the table. He's done a bullet in county. He's the General of a group calling themselves Lords and Ladies. This isn't like any ordinary gang. I've heard some talk; the gang goes to others schools beside this one."

"How did you land yourself at this table?" Ranger asked.

"Walked up and sat down." Alex told him.

Lester had to laugh, that sounded exactly like what Alex would pull.

"What happened with Brady? I think that's his name." Ranger asked.

Alex laughed, "Brady tried coming over at the table at lunch. He was smiling at me and tried to put some moves on me so he could sit down. I can't stand Brady, he's an asshole."

"So Striker shut him down from sitting at the table?" Ranger asked.

"No, I shut him down. I didn't know anyone was trying to dig into Striker's business." Alex said.

Lester kept watching her, she told him about Brady coming onto her. He was ready to stomp on his ass, he still was.

"So does Striker know that Brady's the police?" Ranger asked.

"No, he doesn't know anything other than I don't like Brady." Alex said.

"Do you know who all is in this gang Alex?" Brogan asked.

Alex turned to look at her, "No, I don't. I can get a man at the table, but I can't tell you who Striker chums with."

"Is he a real player?" Ranger asked.

"Real as they get. I know he has four runners under him, I can point them out, but I don't know them. He has drop places for his runners. My locker is one of them." Alex looked at Joe, Lester saw the slight squeeze on her shoulder her father gave her. "I don't know what the drops are, I don't use that locker all the time. Why do you think my backpack is always so heavy? I carry everything around with me."

"What's the number and the combination?" Ranger asked.

"Forty-eight, it's on the second floor in the south wing of the school." Alex reached in and pulled out a key, she slid over. "He keeps it locked, it's had a lock on it since my first day. Took me two weeks to find out who had control of my locker."

"And he gave you a key without questions?" Brogan asked.

Alex looked at Brogan, "I gave him an offer he couldn't refuse."

Brogan sat back and looked at Alex. "What was the offer?"

"Give me the key or he gets the shit beat out of him everyday until he does."

"And he just gave you the key?" Brogan asked.

"Yeah, after I broke his nose. I've had the key ever since last year. Striker and I have an understanding. He leaves me alone, I leave him alone, and we have a mutual asset between us. My locker is like Switzerland between Striker and myself."

"You fought him for a key yet you still allowed him to use your locker?" Brogan asked.

"Striker is big man on campus. Striker normally gets what Striker wants. I have a place to park my books between classes, that's all I cared about. I could have gone and got another locker, but I was the new blood going in last year. I didn't have anybody who had my back. I found the biggest, baddest, meanest son of a bitch in that school and I took stand. After the third week of school last year, no one has said jack shit to me. I don't care if I came off as a bitch, my homies don't run there."

Joe looked at Brogan. "Alex lived three blocks off of Comstock Street until she came to live with me. You didn't bother to pull her record did you?"

"No, I didn't pull her record. I would have asked you first." Brogan told him.

Lester shook his head. She missed a big piece of the puzzle since she didn't do her homework on Alex.


	4. Chapter 4

Alex looked at Brogan, she knew bits and pieces about the Lords and Ladies, but only what she overhead. She still liked Brogan, but not running her record hurt this little set up. Alex knew her old homies called Brogan 'Green Ice', because she froze down whatever she worked on.

"Look, you slipped when you didn't pull my record. Ice has got to melt sometime even if it is green." Alex told her.

Brogan laughed. "I can see I messed up in quite a few areas."

Alex saw Brogan look at Ranger. "I know your group is good. I've heard about your rep at the station, I should have dug a little deeper with you and shouldn't have listened to only shop talk. I want to shut this group down." Alex watched Brogan, "I'll let you run the show since your front man has to get attached to this group."

Alex looked at Ranger he gave Brogan a slight nod. "Tank I want backgrounds on this table. Lester, Mrs. Whitker is going to take a vacation and I want you covering her classes." Ranger looked at Alex. "Tiger, sitting next to Tank is Siloh. He's going to be my point man. I'll let you two work it out how you want him to join the table."

Ranger stood up, "Wexford, I want background on your division. I want each of your guys strengths and weaknesses. I'll place them tomorrow. I want your guys coming to my place tomorrow afternoon. I'll tell you right now, I normally run a group of five guys. It gets too big and things go wrong. If your point man messes with Tiger at this table then he'll be cut off."

Alex smiled at Ranger and looked Brogan. "Brady isn't messing with Alex; I had a talk with him already."

"See that he doesn't. Right now Tiger is our foot in the door, I don't want to see her get slammed on. If I get a bad feeling that something is going to go wrong for her, we're walking away."

"Agreed, I didn't want Alex involved in this mess in the first place." Brogan said.

"Good, come on guys." Ranger picked up the files.

Alex watched as he gave Joe a nod and then they all walked out. Lester turned and looked at her. "I'll call you tomorrow." Alex told him.

Lester gave her a wink and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

"God I fucked that up." Brogan stood and looked at her guys. "Go home and get some sleep. We'll have enough meetings tomorrow."

Joe hadn't moved, Alex stayed where she was, she looked at him. He didn't speak until the last guy left the room.

"Why didn't you tell me you asked Ranger and his crew to run with you on this?" Joe asked. "It could have gone a lot smoother than that if I had known."

Alex watched as Brogan unhooked the back of her hair and let it down. It was just past her shoulders. "I didn't think about it. I didn't know he'd be like that to deal with."

"You have a lot to learn Brogan about who does what in this town." Joe said. Alex looked at Joe while he watched Brogan pace back and forth beside the table.

"I fucked up, I realize that." Brogan turned and looked at Joe. Alex saw the uncertainty in Brogan's eyes. "How do I fix it?"

Joe sighed, Alex knew that sigh was I wish I had been informed sigh, now lets see what I can do to work things out. "Don't be an ass next time you see him. Ranger isn't a bad guy, he does things his way, that's just the way he plays. It tends to work out."

"I noticed he didn't give you anything." Brogan said.

"I run things different than Ranger, I fly solo, but Ranger also knows I'll tell him what I have when I need too." Alex could feel Joe rubbing her back as she laid her head on the table. "I used to treat him how you just did. It doesn't work, he's not intimidated. I wouldn't have Alex if Ranger hadn't stepped in when he did. I owe Ranger for my daughter Brogan, Ranger and I have set our differences aside."

Alex closed her eyes, she heard Brogan take a seat. "I noticed Alex calls you Joe and not Dad or any other parental name."

"That's because she's only been with me for a little over a year. I never pushed her on the parental name. I thought you would have heard all about us by now." Joe said.

"I don't listen to shop talk, I tune it out most of the time. I tune it in when I need to hear it." Brogan said.

Alex listened as Joe explained what happened a little over a year ago. She didn't care about reliving this, she tuned him out until the part where they left to go to China. Alex sat up. "I'll be back."

Alex pushed the chair back and stood up, Joe grabbed her hand and she looked down at him. "Stay in the station. Don't go too far."

"I'm going to the bathroom." Alex told him.

Joe kissed the back of her hand and he let her go. Alex walked swiftly out of the room. She shut the door and she heard Joe pick up the story. She knew it was just as much his story to tell as it was hers, but she hadn't felt the need to expound on China other than talking to Jose about it and what little bit she brought up to Dawson on the bike. Alex went the bathroom and washed her faced. She waited awhile and headed back. She eased the door open and looked in.

Joe gave her smile, "You can come back in."

Alex walked over and sat back down next to Joe. She looked up slowly at Brogan. Not too many people knew what she had done over there, a handful of people at the most.

"I'm sorry Alex, I thought you were one of those kids that just grew up in a cops family. Learned the street slang from being around them; had a different sort of relationship with your father than most kids do." Brogan said.

"No big." Alex looked at Joe, "You think I can go crash at Tank and Lula's place. If Siloh is going to get in at the table, I need to hang around him so he can learn to read me and I can learn to read him."

She saw Joe put both of his hands on his face and scrub it.

"How much trouble do you really think I can get in with only twenty four hours?" Alex asked.

Joe groaned and looked at her. "Don't go there." He took out his phone and punched some numbers.

"Where's Siloh crashing at?" Joe asked into the phone.

"His table partner wants to hang for twenty four before Monday." Joe said as he reached up and put her hair behind her right ear. "That was what she said. I have to agree, it would be good if they learned to do that before this goes down."

Alex leaned her head into Joe's hand that was still by her ear. "No, I can drop her off."

Alex watched as Joe closed the phone. "You're crashing with Ranger and Stephanie for the night. Siloh is on the fourth floor. Let's stop by the house so you can grab a bag and I'll drop you off."

She turned and looked at Brogan, Brogan was still watching her. "You know, you don't have to do this Alex."

"I know, I've made up my mind, I'm doing it." Alex told her.

Joe stood and Alex stood with him. "Give me a call some time Brogan." Joe said.

Alex followed Joe out of the conference room and down the hall to the back door of the station. He opened it and Alex stepped out into the late September night, she took a deep breath and then let it out. She felt Joe's hands on her shoulders as he rested his chin on her head.

"You aren't going to do anything stupid in the next twenty-four hours are you?" Joe asked.

"Define stupid?"

"Like go pick a fight or something." Joe said.

"I normally don't pick a fight, but if Siloh wants at that table, he's gotta have some cred."

"How much credit does he need?" Joe asked.

"Enough to walk down Comstock Street." Alex told him.

Alex felt the tension in the air and turned around. She saw Joe was grinding his teeth. "I think you better tell me what you think you are going to do." Joe said as he put his hand over hers and started walking them over to his vehicle.

"Siloh needs credit, he's got to get past the guard dogs." Alex said as they moved across the parking lot. "I need you to understand something, so I'm going to lay it out there." Alex took her hand out of his and stopped on her side of Joe's SUV and looked up at him. "I wasn't a banger, but I did hang with the Slayers for a period of time. Striker has back up, his hired guard I guess you can call it."

She saw Joe bend down like he normally did and when he got on her eye level. "Striker hires the Slayers for protection?" Joe asked.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell us this back in there? Don't you think that would have been important?" Joe asked.

"I couldn't tell this back in there. It is important." Alex said.

"Why are you telling me and not letting everyone else hear this?" Joe asked.

"Because I've learned to trust you on things, even more so tonight Joe." Alex looked at him, she saw something in his eyes, and then she looked down at her feet. "I couldn't tell them the only reason I was allowed to sit at that table with Striker is because I was sleeping with Havoc."

Joe stepped back and turned around. Alex could tell he didn't like the last part. Joe spun back around. "You are talking about Havoc who leads the Slayers now aren't you?"

"Yes, but this was before Ward died and Havoc took over the Slayers. Havoc was second in command when I was seeing him."

"So what you said in there about beating Striker up didn't happen?" Joe asked.

"No it happened, he sent the Slayers after me. Havoc showed up after school one day. That was when he looked at Striker and told him who I was. He told Striker my street name that Ward gave me." Alex said.

"So what is your street name?" Joe asked.

"Blue Steel." Alex said, "But most of the time Havoc called me Shade."

"How did you the get the two names?" Joe asked.

"Ward said the blue was because of my eyes and steel because I was unbendable about not jumping in. Shade was Havoc's name for me. He said that anyone I had under my wing, I gave them shade for protection. I wouldn't let him have some of the street kids for the Slayers. They weren't bad kids." Alex said.

"So what is your plan with Siloh?"

"I plan on going and talking to Havoc, setting up a meet with Siloh. Havoc's got to give his approval or Striker won't play."

Joe walked up to her and took her chin in his hand. "Are you sure this is the only way you can get him at the table? The Slayers are in South Trenton, not in the Burg proper."

"Slayers have been making a power play there are several of them at school. Havoc started recruiting middle class, he's tired of playing in the hood. The last I saw he had some major bling on." Alex told him.

"You have Slayers in your school?"

"Yes."

"Jesus! I thought I took you out of the hood." Joe looked at her. "I don't like this, not one bit."

"Havoc isn't going to hurt me. I promise Joe." Alex looked at him and put her hand on his that still had her chin. "I trust you, I'm only asking you to trust me on this one. It's got to go both ways."

"No more lying, everything has got to be put on the table. No more hiding things from me. Get in." Joe told her.

Alex got in and waited for Joe to get in. "As soon as I drop you off, you fill Ranger in."

"Yes sir."

Joe looked at her, "You hurt me Alex. I don't like being kept in the dark not where my daughter is concerned. You understand that don't you? That your mine. I would have thought that by now you would have started trusting me more. This has got to stop Alex, I'm tired of riding the fence with you."

Alex looked out the window as Joe drove. "I'm sorry."

Joe drove on. She pulled her feet up in the seat and placed her chin on her knees. He stayed quiet.

Alex turned her head so she was watching him drive, he threw glances at her she could tell she hurt him. "What do you want me to do?" She asked.

Joe kept driving and then pulled up into the drive in front of the house, he put the SUV in park and then looked over at her.

"I want you to stop treating me like I'm one of those people you can't trust. You say you trust me, then prove it to me Alex. I'm your father and that isn't going away. I'm not going to walk out on you when something goes wrong. Damn it! Do you even realize how much I love you? I don't say that to just anyone. So quit treating me like the door mat." Joe got out of the SUV, and slammed the door.

Alex watched as Joe walked up to the door, unlocked it and went inside. She sat there in the SUV, his words pounding in her head as well as inside her heart. Alex thought back on it, he was right, she hadn't really given him a chance. She kept herself guarded. She knew the reason was she didn't want to get hurt anymore. Alex realized she was only cheating herself, she always wanted what other people had, a family, and here she had it now and she didn't know what to do with it. She got out of the SUV and went inside. Joe was sitting on the stairs, he had his arms hanging over his knees. She had been sitting out in the SUV for awhile now. Joe had always made the first move with her. Alex knew she had never done it before. It's always his hands first, steeling her from moving away too fast, he was always the one who pulled her into a hug. She had tried a few times, but she never took the full step out on the limb with him.

Alex walked slowly towards him, Joe's head hung down looking at the stairs. She stopped in front of him her hand was slightly shaking as she started to put it in his hair. He didn't move at all, even when she took her hand away. Her heart was pounding in her chest, she knew he was angry with her and he hadn't laid a hand on her, everyone before who was angry did things. She swallowed hard as the lump formed in her throat. It hurt so bad, she never knew how much he actually meant to her until he had said all of that. Alex never felt pain like this before. She turned and sat on the step between his feet, she leaned back slowly and made sure she missed his head as she put the back of her head on his shoulder. She sat there not saying anything, her hands laying on his.


	5. Chapter 5

Joe sat there on the steps, he was angry. He deliberately sat down on the steps waiting for her to come in so she would have to go around him. When he heard her at the door, he hung his head down. If he looked up, he knew she would say something, and words right now was not enough to heal this pain he had inside his chest. He heard the timid steps as she came slowly up to him. He almost wanted to laugh, but he held it back. It was the sheer absurdity of the situation. Then it made him angrier when he realized she was actually afraid of him. His suspicions were confirmed when he felt her hand, she was actually trembling as she ran her hand through his hair.

He sat there not moving then she turned and sat down and placed herself on the stairs in the small cocoon he had made sitting this way. Joe felt her hands rest on his and her head on his right shoulder. Alex hadn't said a word and he wasn't about too. This was the first time she actually came to him, it hurt that she was scared even to do the slightest touching she was doing with him. He concentrated on her breathing, it was still a little fast, he let his left arm go limp when she had picked it up and turned his hand over so his palm was facing her. It was then that she seemed to settle and calm down. He only wished he had. He felt like throwing something. Joe wondered how much of herself she had hidden away behind walls of lies and deceptions.

Joe felt Alex place her hand on his, her palm to his palm. It reminded him of the time that he had done this himself with his father. He was what five or six at the time at least. Joe started to move his head and Alex froze, Joe took a deep breath trying to calm the anger that welled inside. He lifted his head all the way and stayed there for bit. He knew she needed something out of what she was doing, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was. She started tracing her fingers over his palm, he moved slowly so his chin was now resting on her left shoulder. She didn't jump at the movement he was making anymore.

He lifted his left hand and she kept her right one on his. He looked at the smaller slimmer hand that was on his. Joe's hand swallowed hers, he couldn't believe how delicate and small it was, but it was not quite an adult hand, close but it still had a little more growing. Joe turned and placed a kiss on the side of her head and that was when she turned and threw her arms around his neck and buried her face. He pulled her to him.

Over the last year he had felt he messed up with her. He always felt like he was competing for her attention between Santos, and Jose. Joe had questioned his decision time and again if he had made the right choice where they were concerned. Right now for once, he actually felt like he did something right. It had hurt like hell to admit to her that she had hurt him. He had almost given up on this ever happening. She clung to him, Joe wasn't going to let go until she was ready. His cell phone rang and he wasn't about to answer it, whoever was calling could go to hell. The phone finally stopped ringing, it was a few minutes later that he felt Alex ease up on her death grip.

When she pulled back away it was slowly. Joe felt the kiss she gave him on his cheek. His anger was still there, the pain was still there. He heard four little words spoken barely above a whisper.

"I love you Dad."

Joe moved his head so he could see her eyes. What he saw there startled him, she always had masks up. She was just as good as he was about hiding behind a wall, and sometimes he thought she was better at it. But she wasn't hiding anything now. He saw the uncertainty, the sheer raw pain of wanting approval, and just how much she loved him. Alex looked away first and started to pull away from him. He saw the walls starting to go back up.

"I love you too Alex." He saw the walls stop right where they were. He reached up and wiped the tears from under her eyes. This was his chance and he was taking it.

"Don't be afraid to come to me. I told you before I won't hurt you. Just don't shut me out Alex. You're the most important thing in my life. I don't want to lose you Alex, because your Dad wouldn't be able to handle that if that happens."

He stood so she had room to go upstairs. "Go grab your bag."

"Okay."

Joe watched her go up the stairs. His anger boiling in his chest, the pain was subsiding a little. That was a major hurdle that she crossed tonight. Joe pulled his phone out and looked to see who had called. It was Ranger. Joe looked at his watch, it almost three in the morning. He knew they had left the station around midnight. Three hours, Joe couldn't fathom how the time had flown like that with sitting with Alex on the stairs, but it was time he wouldn't trade for the world.

Joe dialed Ranger back.

"Yo."

"Lost track of time. She's grabbing a bag now." Joe told him. He could hear how his voice sounded odd and off.

"You copasetic?"

Of course Ranger would pick up on it. "Not quite there but coming around to it."

Joe watched as Alex had her gym bag in one had and her backpack on her shoulder coming out of her room.

"I need to talk to Alex when she gets here. I did some digging."

Joe reached up and snatched the hook on top of the back pack and lifted it off her shoulders. The damn thing weighed a ton. She hadn't been lying about carrying her books around. He nodded her on to the door. He heard the low edge to Ranger's voice. Joe had a feeling he picked up the Slayer connection to Striker.

"You hit the south side with all that shoveling?"

"That I did, with some surprising results. When did you find out?"

Joe got to the door and stopped after he set the back pack on the outside. He was fighting Bob trying to put him back in the house, he had half his body outside and half inside. Joe grabbed his collar and gave a good yank. Bob backed up and Joe shut the door. He looked around and saw Alex climbing into the SUV.

"Found out right after we left the station." He turned back to the door. "I told her she had to fill you in. No more lying or hiding anything. Don't grill her, I want to see if she holds up to her side. Fill me in."

He heard Ranger cover up the phone, he couldn't make out what he said then he came back on.

"We'll fill you in."

Joe stooped and picked the backpack up again and started for the SUV. "We're on our way."

Joe heard the line go dead. He opened the SUV and climbed in, putting the backpack between them. Alex was looking out the window as he backed up and pulled out of the driveway.

"Dad?"

Joe longed to hear that one word for so long from her. It was soothing some of that ache. "Yeah?"

Joe put the SUV into drive and started going down the street.

"I did go to one of those parties last year. That was how I knew what went on at them."

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Anything else?"

"Melinda was the one who took me to it. It was on that weekend that she asked me to spend the night. I can't remember exactly where it was at but I'm trying."

Joe looked over at Alex, she had her feet back up in the seat again with her chin on her knees. He hated seeing her this way, she was depressed, but he and Jose had talked about it already. If she didn't snap out of this he was probably going to take him up on his advice and put her on medication for it.

"Anything else?"

"On Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to Lester's place for two hours each day."

Joe slammed on the brakes. He turned and looked at her. Her feet fell out of the seat and she grabbed the hand rail by the door.

"How long have you been doing this?" Joe asked.

"All last year, I was having problems with Geometry. I can't figure math out. Lester has a mathematics degree, he's been tutoring me so I could pass math."

Joe wasn't sure what he expected, mathematics and Santos didn't belong in the same sentence together. He knew Santos was in love with his daughter, he could see it. "Has Santos tried to do anything with you?"

"No. He hasn't tried anything. Lester isn't like that at all."

The horn blared behind them and Joe came back to his senses and started driving again.

"Is there any other bombshell you want to drop on me tonight? Anything else that you are hiding, because that was the last thing I expected to hear from you." Joe was angry.

He had actually forbidden her from seeing the man. Alex had done a one-eighty on him and split for five days. Those were the worst five days of his life, which was when they struck an agreement with the phone calls. She had failed to fill him in on the tutoring aspect of this. He had seen her grades and knew her math sucked. But she had passed last year making up for her sophomore year. She had one last year in school and was taking her last math class she should have gotten rid of the year before.

Joe turned the corner and glanced over at her, she had grown quiet again. He pulled over and put the SUV into park. He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned towards her.

"I wanted you to be honest with me and you are. You know how I feel about Santos. Now I want to know exactly how you feel about him."

He saw Alex look at him. He hung his head; he could see it in her eyes. She still hadn't said anything and he looked back up at her. She was shaking again. She was actually afraid to tell him. Joe moved back into his seat, opened the door, and when he got out of the SUV he slammed the door. He walked a ways from the SUV. "Son of a Bitch." Joe kicked at a can in the middle of the street and sent it sailing into the air.

Joe turned when he heard the SUV door close, Alex was walking slowly towards him. Joe stood still and waited for her to reply.

"I love him. We talked about dating, but not until after I finish high school. I wasn't going to say anything until after I graduated. I told you before I needed both of you and I still do. That hasn't changed."

Joe watched as she turned and went back to the SUV and got in. Joe spied several rocks and reached down and picked them up and threw them as far as he could. "Fuck." He turned around and went back to the SUV and climbed in.

"Not another word, I can't take anymore tonight. I asked you to be honest, well your Dad is angry right now and I can't handle anymore." Joe got back on the road and drove to Haywood.

Joe stopped the SUV at the front door. Alex was looking at him. She reached over and picked up the backpack. Joe watched as Ranger opened the front door. He rolled down the window as he watched Alex walk in. Ranger shut the door and walked over to the SUV.

"How honest is she being now?" Ranger asked.

Joe shook his head, trying to find the words. "She isn't hiding anything from me." He growled out.

"Is twenty-four hours going to be enough to get your anger under control?" Ranger asked.

"Take her to school on Monday. I'll pick her up." Joe saw Ranger give him a nod and then he drove away from the curb. He needed a drink; he needed to get totally shit-faced and wasted. Joe wanted to throttle his daughter, but he knew that would only make matters worse.


	6. Chapter 6

Ranger walked back into the building, it was now 3:45 in the morning. Joe's house was only twenty minutes away from his offices. Ranger had seen Joe angry on several occasions, but the man was in a murderous rage right now. He looked at Alex who was leaning up against the wall near the elevator. She had her head titled back and her eyes closed. Ranger walked over to her, the backpack was beside her and he picked it up. Heavy was the right word for it.

"We are meeting in my conference room Tiger." Ranger pressed the up button on the elevator and it dinged. He stepped in. Alex came in with her bag.

When the doors shut Ranger hit the button for the third floor. He still hadn't taken his eyes off of her, she hadn't said anything about the Slayers in this play at the station.

"Siloh needs to get past the Slayers in order to get in with Striker." Alex said.

The elevator stopped, Ranger put his hand on the doors to hold them. "Continue."

Alex stepped off the elevator. Ranger pointed to the door down the hall.

"The Slayers back Striker up. There his guard at the parties." Alex said.

Ranger opened the door to the conference room. He saw Alex stop at the threshold. Tank, Bobby, Lester, Stephen, and Siloh stood with their arms folded across their chests. All of them had the same look. Alex turned and looked at Ranger.

"Inside."

Ranger saw the look of insecurity cross over her features. For the last two hours he had been on the phone with Jose, trying to find out how much Alex had actually given him. She had told him quite a lot, but she was hiding behind a wall that was crumbling. Jose said she had only talked twice about killing Blade and Bella. He had said she shut down on him.

"You're working with me. And it's going to be done my way. Inside." Ranger looked over to Lester. He was almost going to take Lester off of this team. He had a good mind to, but Jose had told him that Alex talked more about Lester in their sessions. Jose told him Alex was in love with Lester. Ranger knew exactly where Lester stood.

Alex walked in and dropped her bag by a chair. She finally looked back up at his team. Ranger handed the backpack to Tank. Tank took it and then opened it up and spilled out the contents of it on the table. He turned it inside out and started putting receivers in the lining.

"Have a seat." Ranger said.

Everyone went and grabbed a chair, Ranger watched as Alex looked at him. He gave a nod and she went and sat by Lester.

Ranger gave Lester a nod. Lester pushed his chair back away from the table and spun hers around to face him. Ranger walked around and sat on the table at the space Lester provided. Alex looked from Lester to Ranger and back.

Ranger cleared his throat, "Number one, when you work with me you get paired up with a partner. Number two, that partner will have your back." He watched as Alex turned to look at him. "Number three, you never deviate from my plan. Number four, never hide any information from me or fail to tell me something that is vital."

Alex opened her mouth and then shut it. Ranger saw her mind working. "Number five, I have an open door policy, if something is bothering you, you need to come tell me. Do you understand these rules?"

"Yes sir."

"Good." Ranger looked at Bobby. Bobby pulled the folder and handed it over. Ranger opened it, and pulled out the first picture and flipped it over so Alex could see it. "Who is this?"

He saw Alex sit back and relax a little. "Striker."

He handed it to Bobby who put it on the board on the wall that was blank at the moment. Ranger turned the next picture over.

"Laser." Then the next Alex said, "Jumper." Alex laughed when she hers. "That's me."

"What's your name at this table?" Lester asked.

Ranger watched as Alex turned to look at him. She wasn't expecting Lester to ask anything. Ranger had agreed with Lester they would tag team her.

"I'm." She didn't finish it.

Ranger saw her look down, this was costing her something. Lester looked at him, he gave the nod.

"Is it Blue Steel?" Lester asked.

Alex's head snapped up and looked at him. "How?"

"Answer the question Alex." Ranger stated.

"No." Alex looked at her picture, "It's Shade."

Ranger put the pictures down and looked at Bobby. Bobby shrugged. This was new to them, they traced her back to the Slayers, but they were told Blue Steel.

"Who is Blue Steel?" Lester asked.

"Me. I'm Blue Steel." Alex said.

Ranger crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you want us to play twenty questions with you? Or, are you going to the lay it out in the open."

Ranger watched as Alex got up from the chair and walked to the window. Lester looked at him, Ranger shook his head. He wanted to see if Alex would actually talk about this. He asked Jose, and Jose said Alex hadn't mentioned the Slayers at all in over a year of talking with him so far.

"Ward named me." Alex turned and leaned up against the window, she went on to tell them why with Blue Steel and why with Shade and who gave the names.

"You never jumped in. So how is it that you got selected to be tagged with a name?" Ranger asked. "Not only with the Commander but also with his General."

Ranger noticed that Alex wouldn't look at Lester. "Michael had been with the Slayers."

"Who's Michael?" Siloh asked.

Ranger grinned at the boy and then put up two fingers. He didn't want him asking anymore than two more questions. Ranger looked back at Alex when she answered.

"Michael was the man I thought was my father but he turned out he wasn't. Joe Morelli is." Alex looked around the room and then she looked right at Ranger. "Any way, when he died." Alex stopped talking. Ranger could see Lester was on the edge of his seat to go to her.

"How did he die?" Ranger asked.

Alex turned around and looked back out the window. Ranger moved; he had had enough of this. He went over to her and spun her back around. "You have to stay with me here, no more hiding. How did he die?"

"Blade was in the apartment when we got back from the shore." Jose didn't tell him this, the word he had was Michael was killed by a violent drug deal gone bad by a rival gang.

"You saw it, didn't you?" Ranger asked her.

Alex nodded.

Ranger turned around and walked back to the table he put his hands down on it. He looked at Siloh and then to Tank. "Fill him in on Blade," Ranger looked at Lester. "Take her to get something to drink and calm her down. I need information she has and I don't want her falling apart on this."

Ranger watched as Lester led Alex out of the room. Her psyche was paper thin, this was going to be tricky. Stephen was watching him.

"Got any words Cap?" Ranger asked.

"She's on a thin edge. She can't be undressed in the normal way to get what we need. She's refusing to talk about certain things." Stephen said.

"I don't think she can Cap. That man was murdered in front of her and she isn't talking about killing Blade and Bella. She hasn't processed it all." Ranger moved away from the table and pulled a chair over. He leaned his head back. He was tired and he hadn't had any sleep. He knew Alex hadn't had any sleep. He was real tempted to let her sleep, but he had a problem, he wanted Siloh at that table. He looked at Bobby, "No one mentioned Shade at all?"

"No, I can make a call." Bobby said.

"If Lester can't calm her down then yeah make the call." Ranger said.


	7. Chapter 7

Alex walked out of the room with Lester. She followed blindly; she didn't want to think anymore. Alex knew she hurt Joe, hurt him deeply. Lester walked them into the break room. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a coke. Alex took it when he offered it to her, she opened it and downed half of it and then looked at him.

Lester was leaning on the counter with his hands in his pockets. "A little better? You want anything to eat?"

Alex walked over to the refrigerator and opened it and looked at the sandwiches inside. She pulled one out and took it to the table. Alex took the wrapping off the sandwich slowly gathering her thoughts, her father was angry with her, Ranger wasn't happy with her at the moment, and she was sure Lester would soon follow. They had said to get everything out in the open. Alex took a deep breath.

"Blade killed Michael in our apartment, he beat the shit out of Lacy before Michael and I had shown up. When we walked through the door, he grabbed Michael. Blade had backhanded me across the room." Alex took a bite of the sandwich and chewed slowly. Lester came and sat down beside her, Alex felt his hand start rubbing her back. "After he killed Michael, he came after me, told me I was going to remember what he said. I never knew the bottom of your feet were that sensitive. He had taken a hot needle and pushed it in if I didn't remember the story he gave me to tell. I had to repeat it over and over again, while he kept sticking the needle in my foot. Then he took me to see Ward, told Ward Lacy wasn't up to taking care of me. He gave me to Ward, said I was his new BG, and told him to flip me. I hung around Ward because if I didn't Blade said he'd be back, and I would regret it."

Alex drank deeply from the coke, her head turned and she saw Ranger standing in the door. She didn't hear him come in.

"Keep going." Ranger told her.

Alex sat the coke down. "Ward kept me with him. Lacy found out and tried to come and get me after a few days. Ward had her number though, so Lacy was doped up and Ward took me around with him. Havoc was with him all the time, those two did everything together. Ward kept talking to me, kept pushing me, trying to get me to jump in, he told me if I didn't jump in, I was going to be frogged in. Havoc blew up on him. Havoc told Ward to leave me alone. The next day Ward sent Havoc on some shit job. Ward called Bone in, told Bone to Candy Kiss me into the Slayers."

Ranger had sat down at the table, "Bone was supposed to get you high on Ecstasy and have sex with you?"

"Yeah, Ward said he was picking his passé to frog me in." Alex pushed the sandwich away. "Bone took me back to his pad, I was a blue belt at the time, but Bone had his piece in my ear. I didn't know how to get it away without getting shot. So I went along with Bone, thinking I'd get a play. I only needed one moment when Bone let his guard down and I'd be able to get it in. Bone never took his piece away from my head though, had one of his bitches give him the Candy. He kissed me and made sure I opened my mouth because he cocked his piece. I was strung out, I still don't remember much of that, I remember coming fully too, but I wasn't in Bones' crib anymore. I was in Havoc's. I was scared shitless, because Slayers treated bitches who frogged in the worst. Havoc calmed me down, he told me I wasn't frogged in. He said he found me before Bone could do anything. Havoc moved out of his crib for awhile and moved in with Lacy and me. Havoc and I started shagging not too long afterward. Everyone knew we were an item. Havoc always teased me because I liked the dark, when I walked anywhere I tended to stay in the shadows. At first he called me Shadow. Havoc would come watch at karate, some of the BGs in the hood came too. I took 'em in under my wing. Havoc didn't mess with anyone I took in. He said they were in my shadow. After Ward died and Havoc had to step up, he started calling me Shade. He stopped seeing me, said now that he had to call the shots he had to have a player. Said it was my choice, I could either stay with him or keep living in the shadows. I chose the shadows."

"How heavy are the Slayers into this?" Ranger asked.

Alex drank the last of the coke that was in front of her. "Havoc has Slayers in the school, he's been recruiting out of the hood. The table is guarded by his crew. Striker plays big, he likes to talk, but he's guarded around me because Havoc threatened him. Striker needs Havoc, money gets swapped for the guard. Havoc has some tasty bling now, Havoc doesn't dope up, he's as straight as at they come. He keeps his head clear, he isn't like Ward."

"Who sets up the parties?" Lester asked.

Alex turned and looked at him, he had a brooding look on his face. "I heard it was the Lord and Lady, I don't know who they are. I went to one of these things, but I don't know where it was. The place was big as Jose's. I found out about the guarding when I walked out of the house. Maggot and Worm were working the front door. I was blindfolded going in. Melinda thought it was like some crazy damn adventure. They had the place set up like a ballroom, Cinderella jacked up on crack." Alex looked away and turned back to Ranger. "Nobody was supposed to walk out, but I stepped. Candy was in the room and it was being given out with kisses. Melinda went right along with it, bought up into the whole shit. She bought into the power trip of sex and candy together. I stepped out of the main room and started looking around. The place was set up with some sweet shit. No nickel and dime store bought in the place. I'm talking high dollar rags that can hang in Museums."

"There weren't any adults around?" Ranger asked.

"The Lord and Lady, they were dressed in that ballroom shit." Alex rubbed her forehead. "Old shit, had masks on. You couldn't tell who they were. It didn't feel right. Left a nasty taste in my mouth."

"Anything else you remember about the house?" Lester asked.

"I don't know," Alex closed her eyes trying to think. "The second story was roped off with those velvety museum ropes." She opened her eyes, "Someone was up there, I remember hearing talking but I couldn't make out any of it."

Alex pushed the chair back and stood up. "Now outside the place, it was dope. They had this fountain in the back garden, almost as big as two busses. It looked like that one in Rome." Alex started walking up and down the room. "Shit, I can't remember the name of it."

Ranger stood up, "That's okay. You gave me enough to work with. You did good Tiger."

Alex stopped and looked at Ranger, "Are you still mad at me?"

"Not at the moment. But you need to quick living in the shadows." Ranger walked over to the door. "Lester, why don't you take her upstairs and let her get a couple of hours of sleep. Stephanie should be getting up soon."

Lester stood and walked over to Alex, Ranger had left. Alex didn't want to look up at him. When he didn't say anything she looked up. She was going to say she was sorry but Lester put a finger on her lips.

"Don't be ashamed of who you are, what you've done or haven't done. Just be you, that's all any of us will ever ask of you. I don't think any different of you, that's your past. I want to be your future."

Alex felt his finger go away from her lips, and a feeling of loss washed over her as the sensation of the touch left. "I told Dad about coming over twice a week."

Lester got a grin on his face. "Dad?"

"Yeah, my Dad." Alex said with a smile. "He's rather angry with me right now."

Lester put his arm over her shoulders and turned her towards the door. "I think he's probably angry with the both of us. Probably more so with me than you."

"He wanted me to be honest, so I told him." Alex said. Lester pushed the button on the elevator to take them up to Ranger's apartment. "What else did you tell him?"

"He knows about Havoc and how I got at the table, I told him about going to one of the parties. I also told him about me and you seeing each other when school is over." Alex said.

Alex had watched the elevator open and close, she looked over at Lester.

"I know you wanted to talk to him, but he wanted it all out in the open. I had to tell him." Alex pushed the button, the doors opened and Alex stepped on.

Lester came in after her. When the doors shut he pulled the stop button. "What did Joe say?"

"That he wasn't expecting to hear that. Then he asked if there was anything else and he wanted to know how I felt about you?" Alex looked down.

Lester moved in front of her and lifted her chin, "What did you tell him?"

"That I loved you."

Lester put his forehead to her forehead. "What did he say?"

"That he didn't want to hear another word from me for the rest of the night."

Alex swallowed, she wanted him to kiss her so bad it hurt. Lester never crossed the line, even when she tempted him too. His eyes were so intense.

"It'll be okay. He needs to cool off. I'll talk to him." Lester stepped back and pushed the button for Ranger's floor.

Lester stood beside her. Alex tried to calm her frayed nerves, Lester would do things like that and then move away. She never took the lead on anything, she had always been on guard and more of a follower. When the elevator stopped Alex moved and hit the stop button shutting the elevator down again. She turned around standing in front of him and looked up at him. Lester looked down into her eyes, she went up on her toes and kissed him. Her hands moved to his chest and she folded her fingers into his shirt. Alex pulled back and looked again into his eyes again they went a dark emerald green. "Just in case I never get the chance again."

"Just remember who started this." Lester put his arms around her and pulled her to him. He kissed her. Alex's heart thudded in her chest, she could feel her pulse quicken. Then she felt the water spray. Lester pulled back and lifted his head, the sprinkler system in the elevator was dowsing them in cold water.

Alex started laughing. Lester took one arm away from her and hit the button to open the doors. "We just got caught." He told her.

Lester pulled her out of the elevator and into the hall. He went over to Ranger's door. Lester looked to the camera in the corner and he heard the door click. Alex looked at him. "How much trouble are we in?"

Lester looked down at her wet shirt. Alex saw where his eyes were and then laughed. "They tend to do that when they get wet and cold."

"I'll remember that." Lester gave her a quick kiss. "Try to get some sleep." He opened Ranger's door.

Alex moved away from him, her hand trailing down his wet arm as she backed into Ranger's place. "I'll try, not promising though." Alex's fingers stroked across his and then she shut the door. She leaned back against the door. She closed her eyes catching her breath.

The crack of two palms slapping the door beside her head sounded loud and jarred Alex as her whole body shook from being startled. The wonderful feeling of bliss she had felt plummeted off the cliff within her psyche. "Graduation!" Ranger growled. "Did something change that I'm not aware of? Because that was the plan."

"No." Alex slid down the door. Alex watched as Ranger squatted down in front of her he had his hands on his knees.

"Don't deviate from it again. Alex, I warned the both of you that this was going to be hard. He held up to his side. You blew it Tiger." Ranger told her.

Alex heard the disappointment in his voice. She pulled her knees to her chest. Alex didn't know what was wrong with her, she couldn't sleep but two to three hours a night, she was crying all the time at the stupidest things. The pain in her chest tightened. She looked up at Ranger.

"I can't do anything right anymore. What's wrong with me?"


	8. Chapter 8

Ranger watched as she slid down the door. He knew her psyche was paper thin, they all knew it. She had almost lost it in the conference room. He watched the last bit of her control she had slip out of her grasp. He could see she was hurting. Ranger knew he was going to have to go about this carefully, if he made a wrong move she would bolt.

"I'm calling Jose." He watched as she tightened further, "It'll be okay."

Ranger stood slowly and backed up till he was out of her hearing range but not out of his sight. He pulled his cell phone out and dialed his brother when the phone was picked up he heard the sleepy voice on the other side.

"I need you here now. Alex spiraled, she needs you now." Ranger told him.

"Shit!" Jose said. "Where is she?"

"My place. She's in front of the door, I haven't moved her yet." Ranger said.

He could hear Jose pulling things out of his drawers. "Get her a coke; place it away from the door. Call me in ten minutes if she doesn't move."

Ranger heard the click of the phone. He punched the numbers for Joe. He watched as Alex shook, crying with her whole body.

Ranger heard the phone being picked up, "Whazza?" Ranger wanted so much to reach into the phone and shake him. He had gotten drunk. "Listen to me closely, no arguing. I'm sending a man to come get you. Your daughter has hit rock bottom, she needs you."

"What?" Joe slurred into the phone.

"Alex needs you now." Ranger heard Bob barking in the background. "Get dressed my man is picking you up."

"Alex." Joe slurred.

"Yes, get dressed." Ranger hung up the phone. He dialed Tank. "Go pick up Joe; take a big thing of coffee with you. Get him as quickly as possible and try to sober him up. Alex spiraled."

"On my way." Tank hung up.

Ranger moved to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He looked on every shelf and started moving things. He found a coke can hidden in the back. It was Stephanie's reserve can. He pulled it out and came back into the living room.

He saw the end table by the chair and moved it within the line of sight for Alex and placed the coke on it. Ranger walked slowly back to her and squatted down. "You want a drink?"

Alex lifted her head. "I want Dad."

"He's on his way Tiger." Ranger could see the longing and pain in her eyes. His stomach clinched, he never heard her call Joe anything other than Joe.

Ranger heard Stephanie coming into the living room. He backed away from Alex and intercepted Stephanie. He put his hand on her mouth and wrapped her to him. Ranger whispered into her ear. "Try not to make too much noise, Alex hit rock bottom. I'm trying to get her away from the door. She wants her Dad, Babe. She asked for her Dad."

Ranger moved so he could see Stephanie's eyes. They were wide, Stephanie knew the same as he did. Alex had always called him Joe. He took his hand away from her mouth.

"When did she start calling him that?" Stephanie whispered.

"Don't know. But it's about time she had. Tank is on the way to get him." Ranger moved his arm and looked at his watch, five minutes since he put the coke down. He pulled Stephanie with him and looked at Alex. She was curled up on the floor in a fetal position.

"Ranger she's hurting so bad." Stephanie whispered.

"Yeah, Babe. It hurts just watching her." Ranger pointed to the couch and he and Stephanie went and sat down.

"Isn't there anything we can do? Why can't you just go and pick her up?" Stephanie asked softly.

"She'll bolt if I do. She doesn't trust me the way she trusts Joe, Jose, or Lester. Lester can't do this, I don't want him knowing until after Joe and Jose are with her." Ranger looked at his watch. He dialed his brother again.

"She's in a fetal position in front of the door." Ranger told him. "Coke didn't work. She wants her Dad. Where are you?"

"Just turned onto the highway. She called Joe Dad?" Jose asked.

"Yes. What do I do?" Ranger asked.

"Where's Joe?" Jose asked.

"Joe is drunk, Tank is on his way there to get him. I can't stand seeing her like this."

Stephanie put her head on his shoulder and Ranger pulled her to him.

"Okay, is there anything there that you can use that would smell like Joe? If we can't get him to her just yet, something is going to have to sub for him."

Ranger looked at Stephanie, "Babe, go to the guest room, I brought Alex's bag up. Go smell her clothes and find the one that smells like Joe."

Stephanie got up, Ranger watched as she walked quickly back to the guest room. She came back out smiling, she handed the shirt to Ranger.

"Now what? We've got a shirt." Ranger told him.

"Go to her; don't say anything and put the shirt where she can smell it. As soon as she takes it, wait until her breathing evens out. Pick her up and move her."

"What if it doesn't work?" Ranger asked.

"It'll work, trust me. I'll be there as fast as I can, but it's imperative that you get Joe there first."

Jose hung up on him. Ranger looked at Stephanie and handed his phone to her. "I'm going to try and move her. Jose said it will work." Ranger got off the couch and Stephanie kissed him.

He moved quietly till he was close to Alex and squatted down, he placed the shirt on the floor close to her hands. He watched her not make a sound. She was still crying, he saw her eyes close as she took in a breath, he heard the hitch in her breathing and saw her fingers snake out and grab the shirt drawing it to her. Ranger listened, he stayed still and after a few minutes he heard her breathing start to even out. Ranger reached out slowly and stroked her hair. She didn't flinch at his touch. He moved into a different position and put his arms under her and scooped her up. He turned and walked away from the door and headed for the guest room. Stephanie was ahead of him, she walked in first. Ranger saw her move the clothes that was on the bed off as she swept them to the floor. Ranger walked up to the bed and put a knee down on it and placed Alex in the middle of the bed. He held his hand out to Stephanie, she took it and they backed out of the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Tank pulled up in front of Joe's house within ten minutes, Bobby was riding shotgun with him. They both looked at Joe's SUV which was parked in his front yard on the grass and not in the driveway.

"That's not a good sign." Bobby said.

"Let's go." Tank got out on the driver's side door. He walked around the front of the SUV. Bob was standing in the opened front door which was hanging off its hinges.

"Here Bob." Bobby called out.

Tank watched as Bob came out from the door, his tail wagging. Tank and Bobby looked at each other and then back to Bob and started laughing. The dog's hair had a green streak running down his back; he had part of a necktie hanging from his collar that had the ends knotted up with dog drool, where he chewed on it.

"That looks like paint." Tank said.

Bob started jumping around and barking at them.

"Where's Morelli?" Bobby asked Bob.

Bob cocked his head to the side. Tank slapped Bobby on the shoulder. "Do you expect him to answer you?"

Bobby rubbed his shoulder, "It could happen one of these days." Bobby looked down at Bob who was now on his back, gyrating to the left and right, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "Or maybe not."

Tank shook his head. He started walking toward the house. When he reached the front door he looked over the doorframe. It hadn't been pried loose. He noticed the screws looked as if they had been yanked. The light was on in the living room and Tank saw the devastation. Paper was strewn all over the floor; couch cushions half chewed and the gutted remains were in piles of vomit about the room, and green paw prints sprinkled on the carpet.

"Holy shit!" Bobby said.

"Bombshell Bob," Tank said. "Looks like the devastation after one of Steph's disasters."

Bob came between Tank's legs, went to the stairs and sat down. His tail was wagging ninety miles an hour, he had a goofy looking grin on his face. Tank thought it looked a lot like doggy pride.

"You are going to be in so much trouble when Morelli sees the shit you did." Tank told him as he crossed the threshold into the Bob riddled world.

Tank walked past Bob and started up the stairs. When he got to the landing the rest of the house seemed normal. Bob's devastation hadn't made it to the second floor. Tank wasn't that familiar with the house and opened the first door to the left. It was a home office, he shut the door, and he found the bathroom next.

Tank opened the third door, but when he did he was thrust back with the stench of alcohol. He turned and looked at Bobby, "Get the shower going, he reeks."

Tank walked in and reached for the light. When it came on, he saw Joe sprawled on the bed, fully dressed. He had his phone in one hand and a picture in the other. His bedroom looked like a hurricane hit it and he knew Bob didn't do this. Joe had trashed the place. Tank stepped over the clothes on the floor and heard the crack of wood under his boot. He looked down at the half-broken frame, the picture was out of it. Tank had a feeling the picture was in Joe's hand.

Tank pushed through the drawers that were thrown to the floor out of the dresser. He looked at the dresser and the mirror was shattered into thousands of pieces. Tank reached the bed. He pulled the phone out of Joe's hand.

"Whazza don at fo Al?" Joe slurred in his drunken induced comma.

Tank heard the pain in his voice when he said it. "Come on Stallion. You gotta go see your girl."

He pulled the photo out of Joe's hand, it was of Alex. The glass from the frame had scratched it in places. He put it on the night stand. Tank reached down and grabbed Joe by the shirt he had on and yanked him up. Joe's eyes came open.

"Wazza fru Sher?" Joe slurred and then tried to pull Tank's hands off him.

"Not happening. Come on man, you don't want me to hurt you. Alex needs you Joe." Tank pulled him to his feet. "She needs you bad, but you aren't worth shit to her like this."

"Alex." Joe slurred out.

"That's right, first word you've said that I understood." Tank half carried Joe to the door. Bobby was coming out the bathroom.

"He looks like shit." Bobby said.

"He destroyed his room." Tank said as he got Joe into the bathroom.

Bob came bounding up the stairs and barked.

"Bo sh m hea." Joe slurred.

"Don't think he understands man." Tank shoved Joe under the cold spray.

Joe yelped as the water hit him and Bob howled with his master. Tank let him go and Joe slid down the shower wall. He put his hands on his head sputtering with the water. Joe's head came up, his eyes open, red and swollen. Lack of sleep and too much booze.

"Wha'ta fuck?" Joe asked. He stood and went back down on wobbly legs.

"Yeah, what the fuck is right. Jesus. You need your head on straight." Tank told him. "Alex needs you."

Tank watched as Joe closed his eyes and screwed his face. He covered his head with his arms. Tank looked back out at Bobby holding Bob back who was whining to get to Joe. "Let him go." Tank said. "Go get a pot of coffee going. Make it strong, not sure if this shower is going to work."

Bobby let go of Bob, Bob slipped as his nails hit the tile and he kept slipping till he got to the shower and put half his body in, the back half still out shaking for all he was worth as he started licking Joe. Bobby headed back down the stairs. Tank looked at Bob.

"Yeah, get him Bob. You stay here and keep doing that." Tank turned and walked out of the bathroom. "Can't believe the man would get that drunk, shit, his daughter needs him." Tank went into Joe's room and started picking through the clothes. Shaking out the glass and finding him something dry to put on. Tank came back in the bathroom. Joe had his head leaned back on the tile, the spray hitting his face as Bob was licking as fast as he could off of Joe's cheeks.


	10. Chapter 10

Joe's mind was fuzzy. Everything was blurred and spinning. The room was still spinning even after he closed his eyes. He could feel the cold water as it hit his face. He longed for the water to just drown him, take away the pain he was feeling. Joe got tired of the constant tongue washing and then pushed Bob away.

"Go." Joe heard the word perfectly in his head.

Bob came back with a vengeance, put his paws on Joe's chest and barked.

"Not play time. Go away Bob, it hurts too damn much." Joe pushed him again. His arms didn't seem to want to work right.

"Joe you need to come around man. We got coffee downstairs."

Joe opened his eyes and saw Tank as he reached in and turned off the water.

"You put these clothes on or I'm putting them on for you. Come on, Alex needs you."

"Alex?" Joe felt the pain wash all over him again. The longing inside him just wanting her, he felt the harsh reality of the responsibility that was his and he managed to fuck it up. "Alex is fine."

Joe felt being pulled up and his head fell back and he raised it as he saw the brown eyes looking at him. "No man, Alex isn't fine. Alex is in trouble, the worst she's ever been in. Now come on. She needs you."

"Alex, trouble?" Joe asked his tongue sticking half way to the roof of his mouth.

"Yes, damn it." Tank pulled him out of the shower and then pulled down a towel. Joe felt it go over his head. "Get dressed."

Joe pulled the towel off his head, he looked down at the wet clothes he had on. "Am dressed." Bob licked his hand. Joe patted Bob's head and took a step forward and went to the right and fell into the sink. He grabbed onto it and pulled himself up looking into the mirror. He looked like shit. His mind was trying to grasp what Tank had said. Alex was in trouble, but he couldn't understand how she could be in trouble if she was with Ranger.

He dropped his head to his chest. Bob was pushing on him. He looked down at the dog and saw the green on Bob's back and started laughing. "What did you do?" Joe asked Bob. "You look like you're in trouble."

Joe heard the banging on the door, which sounded ten fold in his head. "Are you getting dressed in there?" Tank yelled.

"Am dressed." Joe said. "Quit it will ya."

Tank opened the door. "Damn it Joe. I was trying to be nice. Guess nice isn't going to work." Tank came over and ripped Joe's shirt off his chest and pulled his arms out of it.

Joe grabbed at Tank's hands. "What ya doing?"

"You are only half slurring your words now." Tank said. "The shower helped some but not enough." Tank grabbed Joe's hands off his. "Take your damn pants off Joe."

Joe pulled his hands in the air. "I don't swing that way. Get out of my house."

Joe had his right hand back and took a swing at Tank. Tank moved to the left and Joe spun and went down to the floor. Bob jumped over onto Joe and started licking him. "Get off." Joe said to Bob.

Tank stepped over him. "You are one lucky son of a bitch." Tank started pulling on Joe's feet. Tank had one sock off and Joe kicked with his bare foot and Tank closed his hands around it. "That's enough you drunken idiot. Bobby! Got a fighter in here!"

Joe took his other foot and started pushing on Tank's arm to get him to release it as Joe pushed Bob off him. Joe heard the rumble of the thundering steps on the stairs. He looked up as he finally got Bob off of him. Bobby was standing over him and reached down to grab his arms. Joe felt himself being turned over and heard the cuffs clink as they were slapped on his wrist.

Joe's anger started swelling all over again, and he rolled and cussed Bobby and Tank out in English as well as Italian. The wet sock hung half on and half off as Joe got fully rolled over and he was trying to stand. Bobby had bent down and put his arms under Joe's arm which were handcuffed behind his back. Joe reared his head backward and Bobby swore out in pain from the crunching of bones as Joe's head made contact with Bobby's nose.

"Son of a Bitch, Morelli." Bobby yelled at him.

Joe felt the pain on the side of his face as Bobby's fist made contact with his jaw.

"Damn it, Bobby. No, don't hurt him." Tank yelled.

The light was fading, Joe was seeing flashes of pinprick lights as it danced before his eyes and clouded his vision. The last thing he remembered was Tank saying, "Help me get him dressed."

Joe's head was pounding, his jaw hurt like hell. His eyes opened slowly, he was looking at the polished wood grain of his dining room table.

"Damn he's a mean drunk." Bobby said.

Joe was aware that Bobby was standing in the kitchen off from the dining room.

"We have to finish sobering him up." Tank said.

"Coffee isn't going to work and we're going to have to give him the shot. I'm giving it to him. I'm pretty sure he broke my damn nose." Bobby said.

"Fine, just don't hurt him. I don't care how mean he gets, we need to get him to Alex and we already wasted twenty minutes." Tank walked into the dining room and came into Joe's field of sight.

The adrenaline from the brief fighting had helped clear out some of the fog that clouded over his brain. Joe lifted his head off the table. Tank sat down in a chair at the table. Joe started to move his hands to his head and found he was still cuffed, he looked down and noticed he was dressed in different clothes than what he had on. He turned back toward Tank. "Uncuff me."

"Not yet." Tank said. "Do you know why we are here?"

Joe put his head back down on the table and shook it no.

"Alex is in trouble." Tank said.

Joe felt a sheering pain in his arm. "Fuck!" He looked toward his arm and saw Bobby shooting him up with something. "What the fuck is that?" The pain increased the anger that Joe had thought he numbed down about how his daughter had been afraid of him earlier.

Bobby grabbed Joe's head and pulled it back so he could see him. "It's going to help get you sober. It's full of B vitamins. It'll give you energy and we are going to cram water down your throat for the next five minutes so you'll start pissing all the damn booze away."

Bobby let Joe's head go and yanked the needle out of his arm.

"Bobby, last warning." Tank said.

Joe saw the bottle of water being sat in front of him. Then he felt his arms being lifted and heard the click of the cuffs coming off one hand. Joe turned in the chair and dove for Bobby. Bobby and Joe went down to the floor. They had cuffed him again, and he hated being hand cuffed. Fists were flying and Joe's drunken rage came back with a vengeance as the numbness had started wearing off.

Tank jumped from the chair he was sitting in and went and separated the two men. He pulled Joe up and had him bear hugged from behind. Joe did half the maneuvers he was taught while taking karate with Alex. Tank reinforced the hug. Bobby pushed off the floor and got in Joe's face.

"Fuck Morelli! Stop this shit." Bobby yelled at him. He grabbed Joe's cuffed hand and pulled the other over to it and slapped the cuffs back on. Bobby went to the table and picked up the water and came back and he started pouring it as best he could into Joe's mouth. Joe started choking on the water.

"Bobby! That's it. Get the fuck to the Bronco." Tank told him.

Tank pulled Joe while he was coughing back to the table and sat him down. He went into the kitchen and poured him a big cup of coffee and sat it down in front of Joe who was just now gaining his breath back. Tank sat down beside him.

"Joe, you need to listen. Alex is in trouble, she needs you, and she wants you." Tank told him.

Joe looked over to Tank. The memory of his daughter flooded his mind as she had approached while he sat on the stairs. "She's afraid of me, she doesn't want me." Joe pushed the coffee away and laid his head back on the table.

"Man, you need get over whatever you think. That girl wants you, Ranger said she asked for you. Start drinking the coffee, time is getting short man." Tank said.

Joe lifted his head and reached out with his cuffed hands for the coffee. "Take these off."

"Drink that whole cup and I'll take them off."

Joe grabbed the cup and he started gulping the coffee, the heat stinging his mouth and throat as he downed it. He slapped the empty cup back on the table then thrust his hands out to Tank. "Take them off."

Tank pulled the key from his pocket and unlocked the cuffs. Joe rubbed his wrists as Tank went into the kitchen and grabbed the pot of coffee, he sat back down and poured Joe another cup.

"We have to get you sober. You aren't going to be any good to her like this. Drink up." Tank told him.

The second cup went down easier than the first, bringing with it the anger that he felt against himself. "I fucked up with her."

"No you haven't." Tank told him as he poured a third cup.

Joe rubbed his face and sat his elbows on the table and pulled at his hair. "You don't understand. You weren't here. She was fucking trembling in front of me. She's scared of me."

Tank leaned real close to him. "Alex has hit rock bottom, she asked for you man."

Joe heard that and looked at him. "Did she say Dad or Joe?"

Tank's cell rang and he answered it. "Working on it. Did Alex say Dad or Joe? Hang on." Tank handed the phone to Joe, "Talk to Ranger."

Joe put the phone to his ear. "Yeah."

"Well, I can understand you at least. Joe, listen closely. Alex is hanging by a thread in my guestroom. Jose is already on his way. He said to get your ass here first. She wants her Dad. That is exactly who she asked me for. Now get your ass over here."

Joe heard the dial tone. He reached for the third cup of coffee and downed it. He stood up and looked at Tank. "Let's go."

"Try to go to the bathroom, get rid of some of that alcohol in your system. I'm grabbing some water for you to drink on the way." Tank said. He took his phone back and headed for the kitchen.

Joe started walking for the stairs, the weight of Ranger's words ringing in his ears. She asked for him, not with his name that he had heard for the last year, but what she started calling him. Joe moved faster up the stairs, and went to the bathroom. When he came back down Tank was at the door with three bottles of water. Joe got one and started drinking it. He opened the back door of the Bronco and sat down.

Bobby turned and looked at him. "You disgust me. What the fuck made you get drunk like that? She's been depressed for months and slowly going downhill. Everyone has seen it with her and then you choose the day she bottoms out to get drunk."

Joe glared at Bobby and then looked out the window as Tank started the Bronco. Inside Joe was beating himself up, Jose said it could happen if she had a stressful day, her day had been stressed. He should have seen it on the way over.

"A real father notices this shit. A real father would have stepped in sooner and made sure she got what she needed before she hit bottom." Bobby growled.

Bobby's words stung, Joe felt like he had just gotten sucker punched. He downed the bottle of water he was drinking and rolled down the window and threw it out. Joe turned his head when he felt the bottle of water on his arm. He looked at Bobby and took it from him.

"Getting drunk doesn't make it better. You don't drink when things are messed up. What did you do? Want to get numb and not think about it? Wanted to get drunk and not think about the problems you have with your daughter and what she's going through?"

Joe started drinking the water.

"Joe," Tank said. "All you had to do was just give us a call. You can't tell me Ranger didn't tell you that. You know we'd have helped. All of us like Tiger."

He downed the rest of the bottle. Joe chunked it out the window. Ranger's words in his head, he had called him when Alex first started showing signs of being depressed three months ago. _Anytime you want to talk, call me. I'm not the world's best father, hell you probably know someone who is. Don't wait until it's too late to ask for advice._ Joe closed his eyes. He felt like he waited until it was too late. He had wanted to prove to himself he was better than his father, all the times his father hadn't been there for him. His father had been drunk and away. Joe hated himself for not seeing it, not seeing the pattern that his own father had done with him. He wasn't about to do that to Alex, he'd find some other way of working out the pain.


	11. Chapter 11

Alex clung to Joe's shirt. She wanted him so bad it hurt, her head hurt, and her chest felt like it had dead weight on it. She remembered Ranger saying he was coming, but he wasn't here. She wanted him; he knew how to make the pain go away. When she closed her eyes she saw Blade's eyes looking back at her in her mind. He knew how to make Blade go away when she saw him like this. Talking to Dawson hadn't helped. The fear had seeped over her again, seeped further than it ever had gone; she ached all over from it, it shook her to the core. She hated that feeling, that hopeless sense of no control. She saw the shadows out in the hall again, she closed her eyes, and those cold lifeless eyes came back. Alex couldn't take it anymore.

She had her eyes screwed up tightly, trying to get it all to stop. Then she felt the fingers that caressed her cheek.

"Il papa è qui bambino." Joe said.

Alex opened her eyes, and she saw Joe's soft brown eyes looking at her. Joe squat down beside the bed. He had his right hand on her cheek and he moved his left over to her forehead his thumb rubbing back and forth.

"Il papa lo renderà migliore. Bambino qui venuto." Joe said.

Alex let go of the shirt she had clutched in her fingers and moved toward him. Joe stood up and had her in his arms; he turned and sat on the bed with her as she buried her face into his neck. She felt his hands rub up and down her back.

"Better?" Joe asked.

Alex nodded. Just hearing his voice had helped drown out the eyes. She felt Joe's hands come up and he placed them on her cheeks as she moved away. Alex looked at Joe as he brought her head up.

"Were you seeing his eyes again?" Joe asked.

"Yes."

"He can't hurt you. Not anymore." Joe kissed her forehead, and then put his forehead to hers. "You've got to stop giving him this power over you."

"I don't know how Dad."

"Do you want help with that?"

"Do you know how?"

Joe smiled at her. "I can help you. Do you want me to?"

"Yes."

Joe kissed her forehead. "It's not going to be easy. You need to start talking about him."

"I don't want to remember it though."

Joe moved back and looked at her. "That's where you are giving him the power." Joe let her face go. Alex watched as Joe moved the pillows to the headboard of the bed. Then he turned back to her. "Stand up a minute."

Alex stood and watched as Joe settled back down on the pillows with his back leaning up against them. He stretched his hand out and Alex took it, she went to him and felt Joe wrap his arms around her. Her head was back up against his chest. Joe had his chin resting on the top of her head.

"I was so scared he was going to kill you in that room. I saw the fear in your eyes while he was talking to you. Then he brought up Michael to you. You weren't afraid of him, he literally terrified you. I knew I had to get you away from him. Even if it killed me in the process."

Alex turned in his arms, Joe pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

"But that didn't happen. I didn't die. He knocked me out, and when I came to my first thought was finding you. I didn't want to lose you." Joe moved his right arm and put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up so he could see her eyes. "Then I saw that you'd killed him. Kitten you were so terrified, I had to take the gun out of your hands. You're fingers kept pulling the trigger even after all the bullets were gone. When you killed him it took a part of you. I saw it in your eyes. You had lost a little piece of yourself, and you've been giving it to him everyday since. It's time for you to get it back."

Alex heard the knock on the door. She looked over and saw Jose standing there.

"He's right Alex." Jose came in and sat down on the bed. "You need to start getting your life back." Jose reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle of pills, then he looked at Joe. "We talked about this."

Alex saw Joe take the pills. "For how long?"

"Six months to a year. Depends on Alex." Jose turned and looked at her. He reached over and cupped her cheek. "You need to start talking to me again. I mean really talking too, and you need to take one pill a day. It'll help."

"What does it do?" Alex asked.

"Makes you feel better. You won't feel so sad all the time, and you won't feel like things are crushing in on you. It'll help, but you have to help the pills work as well by talking. I know you hate remembering things, but sometimes you have to in order to get better." Jose told her.

Alex closed her eyes. She didn't want to take medication, she hated taking medication. Jose removed his hand from her cheek. Alex felt better right now than she had in awhile, she always felt better when she was with Joe.

"Alex?" Joe asked.

"Yeah." Alex kept her eyes closed.

"You need to take these Kitten. I know you don't like medication. You didn't like taking anything, even when you were sick last year. It's going to make it better. I promise." Joe told her.

Alex sat up pulling away from Joe. She looked at Jose and then to Joe. She rubbed her eyes. Joe sat up and extended the pills to her.

"Take them for a few weeks Alex." Jose said. "If you don't like it, we'll work on something else. You don't know how close you came to being put in the hospital though. I don't want to see that happen. I know your Dad doesn't."

Alex took the pill bottle out of Joe's hand. She read what was on it and looked back at Jose. "Two weeks. If I don't like what it does, I'm going to stop taking them." Alex got off the bed and walked out of the room she stopped just past the door and listened.

"How close was she really from being put in the hospital?" Joe asked.

"Very close. She's depressed, I want to start working with her everyday. At least an hour a day." Jose said.

"Your place is too far out for that. Unless you plan on coming to the house everyday."

"You know she won't go for that. I'm not going to do that to her, she feels safe in your house. I want her to keep that safety there. I'll see about Carlos letting me have an office here, that way I can meet her and it'll be on even ground. That way at my house she doesn't feel like I'm in control all the time."

"Jose I feel like I messed up with her. She was afraid of me earlier tonight." Joe told him.

Alex could hear the pain in Joe's voice.

"She can't be afraid of you now, not if she's calling you Dad. You haven't messed up with her. I told you this was going to take some time. Why don't you come around and talk with me twice a week, we'll set up a time."

Joe laughed, "I've talked to enough Psych doctors during review boards."

Alex could hear the snicker Jose gave Joe. "Yeah, I'm sure you have. But she's not the only one who's been showing signs of depression. She's not beating herself up inside like you are. Think about it, my services are free."

"I'm not depressed." Joe said. "I won't deny I'm not beating myself up inside. I don't know what to do Jose. If I deny her talking to Santos she's going to take off again. She slept with Havoc who was older than she was, she slept with Spragget who was older than she was, now she's fixated with Lester. This isn't healthy."

"No, it's not healthy. She's been looking for a father figure, she's got that now with you. But her maturity level is not her age Joe. You can't expect her to settle for someone her age."

"I'm not expecting that. I don't want her rushing into anything else. She's not emotionally stable to handle a relationship right now, she hasn't dealt with her life. She jumps into anything right now and it's going to get her hurt, and I don't want her hurt anymore. She's had enough pain in her life to last her a lifetime. Alex told me she and Santos made plans for after she graduated to start seeing each other."

Alex could hear the pain in Joe's voice. Her mind was reeling at what she was hearing.

"She's not ready for a relationship. Not until she learns to have a healthy one with her father. I do know this much, Alex has to figure out that what she's looking for she isn't going to find it with anyone else at the moment. She's got to figure out that what she wants at the moment is you."

She heard Joe sigh. "What do I do about Santos?"

"At the moment. I think you need to sit down and talk to him. Lester isn't an unreasonable man. I don't think he wants to see Alex get hurt either. Alex isn't ready for what Lester wants. Lester wants a wife."

Alex started walking down the hall toward the kitchen. Her mind playing the conversation over and over again in her head. She opened the refrigerator, pulled out a water, uncapped it, and then shook out a pill. Alex popped the pill in her mouth and took a drink and swallowed. She closed her eyes and twirled the water bottle in her hand.


	12. Chapter 12

Lester wants a wife. Those words kept ringing inside her head. Alex didn't want that, she loved Lester, but a wife. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing more. She's been looking for a father figure, Jose's words came back to her mind. _Was that why I slept with Spragget? _Her mind went over the times that she was around Spragget, how he had given her praise for doing this or praise for doing that. The same thing Joe had done in the last year, but Joe had taken it much further. She knew she needed her father, needed him more than anything else. Alex sat the water down on the counter and walked back to the bedroom. She stopped in the doorway as both men looked at her.

The look of concern and worry were etched on both faces. Joe's eyes held love and longing in them though. Alex went back over to the bed and crawled back up and laid down beside him. Joe wrapped her close to him.

"Il papà lo ha gattino."

Alex snuggled farther into Joe's chest and closed her eyes. She felt his hand as he rubbed her back.

"Alex has your Italian gotten better?" Jose asked.

"Vada via. Nessun domande di voi." Alex responded. She felt the slight chuckle that moved her that Joe made.

"I'll go when I feel like it, but for now, I have to ask questions when you don't talk." Jose commented.

Alex's breathing had evened out more. She was tired and she didn't want to move, she didn't want to talk, she only wanted Joe. She had him, but Jose was in the room. She titled her head up and opened her eyes. The big brown eyes she had come to know that drover her demons away stared into her hers. "I'll talk, but right now. All I want is you Dad."

"I'm not going anywhere. You're going to pull through this, close your eyes Kitten, I'm not letting you go."

Alex rested her head back on his chest. She heard Joe start talking to Jose but sleep pulled her down into a world of blackness.

Joe looked back over at Jose. "Her dreams have started over again. Seeing his eyes, cold and lifeless as she describes it. It puts her right back to the day she had that gun in her hands and was clicking away."

"She told me she doesn't remember that much. But he was coming at her and then her being in your arms. She's going to need you in the room to talk about that. I can see that right now," Jose stood up, "No school on Monday, maybe even Tuesday. She needs her safe place, that's at home with you. Take a couple of days off, I'll write out the slips for your job and her school."

********

Alex slowly roused from sleep. She stretched and started feeling around for Joe. Her eyes came wide open when she didn't feel the bed. The living room of home came into full view. Joe was sitting in his recliner, he looked at her. "Feeling better?"

"A lot better."

"I ordered Pino's for dinner. It ought to be here soon."

"Dinner?"

Joe smiled at her. "You slept for eighteen hours. It's Monday. You have no school, tomorrow and Wednesday. Jose and I already talked that over."

There was a knock on the door and Joe got up. Bob jumped up as well off the floor and that was when Alex noticed his fur. "Um Dad, how did Bob get green?"

"Paint out of the garage, we have a lovely Bob fresco throughout most of the house as well." Joe made it to the door and held Bob back as the knock came again. "Keep your pants on."

Alex hopped up and ran to the stairs then took them two at a time. "Don't eat everything and don't let Bob have my sub. I'll be out in a bit." Alex yelled back down as she headed for the bathroom.

Joe opened the door. Brogan stood on the porch with her arms full of bags from Pino's.

"Are you changing careers to delivery boy now?" Joe asked her.

"Something like that. How's Alex?"

Joe yanked Bob back as Brogan came through the door. "She's hanging in there." He shut the door and released Bob. Bob jumped around frantically from the smell of food in the bags. Joe took a few bags off Brogan and they headed into the dining room with Bob at their heels.

Joe searched the bags after the dumped them on the table. He was looking for the sandwich that was marked for Bob. Brogan pulled it out, "I take it this is Bob's. It has his name on it."

Joe took it from and took the wrapping off and tossed it to him. "Only way we'll be able to eat in peace." Bob caught it in mid air and gobbled it down in two bites. "Go lay down Bob."

Brogan sat down and Joe sat across from her. They both started eating. "Looks like there are enough bags to feed an army here." Brogan said.

Joe grinned, "I'm just hoping I ordered enough." Joe looked up when he heard the shower turn off. The pipes in the old house had gotten a little louder. He looked back at Brogan. "She's going to be starved when she comes down."

*******

Lester sat at the conference room table. He wasn't paying any real attention to the discussion that was going on around him. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Alex. Jose had informed them as of two hours ago that she was still asleep. He looked at his watch. It was going on 6:30 pm, now eighteen and a half hours. Lester knew sleep would do her some good, but he couldn't believe she was sleeping for so long.

Lester looked up after the wadded up piece of paper hit him on the forehead jarring him out of his thoughts.

"Get your head on the task at hand. None of us could control Alex bottoming out like she did. She's exactly where she needs to be and who she needs to be with." Ranger said. "If you can't do this, I'll put someone else in that Math class."

"I can do it." Lester said.

"Then prove it." Ranger growled out.

Lester sat up straight and looked over to the board. There were several pictures, the ones that Alex had given them names for a few others she hadn't. Siloh had brought in a few more faces that he had noticed while he was at school today.

"Far left third row down. That's Tony Lopez, he was sitting beside Striker in Math class today. Forth class." Lester reached inside his pocket and pulled out the note. "Caught them talking and got the class to shut up and they started passing notes." Lester opened it up and slid it across the table to Ranger.

Ranger picked up the paper. "Has the reports on Lopez come back?"

Tank spoke up as he shuffled through the papers, "Record is clean, family is clean, no connections to the Slayers."

"I think he might be a runner," Siloh chimed in. "He checked in at Alex's locker between the fifth and sixth class."

Ranger looked up at Lester.

"I checked the locker." Lester said, "It's clean, no drugs, no money. A few books, a small box that hold pens and pencils. A few other school supplies. All the school stuff belongs to Alex. Nothing else was in that locker. I placed the listening devices and the trigger on the door for times it's opened and closed."

"We need Alex if we are going to get anything else." Siloh rubbed his head. "I can't tell shit in that school. I gave you all the possibilities I could see without any information."

Ranger looked back down at the note. "This note makes no sense."

Lester laughed. "Tell me about it. It's an alien language as far as I can tell."

Ranger passed it over to Tank. Tank picked it up and scratched his head. "What is this?"

"Your homework. Decipher it." Ranger told him. "Or find someone who can. Let's break for dinner."

******

Alex came down the stairs, her hair still wet from the shower. She patted Bob on the head as she made her way to the dinning room and the smell of food. "I'm starved." She said as she sat down next to Joe and pulled over one of the bags.

Joe grinned at her she opened the first sub. "You have a new math teacher when you get back to school. You don't know him. You have to treat Lester like you treat any of your other teachers in school. Do I make myself clear?"

Alex over to her father, "Yes."

"After you eat, take your medication and call Jose." Joe told her.

Alex nodded, her mouth full of the meatball sub she was working on. She glanced over at Brogan who was watching them. A loud engine caught Alex's attention and she looked out the dinning room window. Dawson pulled up into the driveway in his charger.

"What's Dawson doing here?" Brogan asked.

Joe shrugged, "Not a clue, I haven't seen him since Saturday." Joe pushed away from the table as Bob started barking and turning circles as he went back and forth from the door to the dinning room.

"Brady is still in the school. I can't take him out right now. He mentioned a party coming up Friday. Have you heard anything about that?" Brogan asked.

Alex finished chewing and swallowed. "Nope. I'm not the right person to ask about that stuff. Who did Brady get that from?"

"Melinda."

Alex scoffed. "Figures. Did he tell you this after the barbeque on Saturday?"

"Yes."

Alex snorted and started eating again.

"What happened on Saturday? He said you and Melinda were bickering and when he came in he tried to break it up and you jumped his case."

Alex started eating her sub again.

"I told you not to sweat that," Joe said as he walked back into the dining room. "Why don't you grab a sub. We have plenty."

Dawson sat down and looked at Alex. "I was cleared."

"That's great." Alex told him. "So, when are you back on the street?"

Dawson shrugged. "When the shrink clears me."

Alex shook her head. "Good luck there. At least I get paid to talk to mine."

Joe sat back down. "Not much if you don't start opening up more."

Dawson pushed the book store bag that he brought with him over to Alex. "My shrink told me to read it. It's not bad. Thought you might like to read it."

Alex cleaned her hands off with a napkin and pulled the book out. It was hard cover, and it was Jose's book. "I've read it. I didn't care for it."

She looked at her father who was covering his mouth. Alex knew he was hiding that stupid grin on his face. Brogan reached for the book. "I haven't read this one yet. He writes real well. I like his other series he has going. I thought it was about time he had his two main characters get together on that one." She flipped the back over and started reading.

Alex looked back over to Dawson. "Why would your shrink give you a fiction book to read?"

"Guess he thought I would relate to the girl in the novel for killing the guy at the end. She had no choice, my situation was different than hers."

"Not by much from what I've heard." Alex said.

Alex noticed Brogan looking from to the book and then to Joe.

"Coincidence." Joe told Brogan. "Authors have the wildest imaginations."

"Right." Brogan said and laid the book down.

Alex finished eating and sat back in the chair. Brogan looked at her. "Where in the world did you put all those subs you ate?"

"In my stomach. I was hungry." Alex stood up and gathered up her wrappers. "Where's my meds?"

"In the kitchen, by the sink." Joe told her.

"I got to go." Dawson put in. "Thanks for dinner."

"Anytime." Joe said and got up to walk him out.

Brogan followed Alex into the kitchen, she had picked up the rest of the bags. Alex tossed what she had and then opened the icebox for a water.

"Saturday?" Brogan asked again.

Alex shook her head. "Not my story to tell." She picked up the medication next to the sink and opened it up and popped a pill.

"Alex, if Brady is doing something that he's not supposed to be doing then I need to know about it."

Alex took a long drink of the water and swallowed washing the pill down as well. "Ask Brady."

"I asked and I got a very lame story from him. One I don't believe at all. If you won't tell me, then I think it's time we had a talk with your cousin Melinda."

Alex choked on the water she was drinking. Brogan slapped her on the back. "What was that about? You don't think Melinda will talk?"

"Melinda will talk. She'll just save her own ass is what she'll do." Alex said when she got her breath back.

"Was Brady and Melinda having sex upstairs on Saturday?" Brogan asked.

Joe was standing off to the side, he could see both of them, when Alex looked up at Brogan he could see it clearly written on her face. Joe walked through over to the phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen.

"I need to call Jose." Alex said.

Joe turned and looked at her. "You can him, after I talk to my sister."

Alex hung her head.

"Why didn't you tell me before Alex?" Joe asked.

Alex looked back up. "You said you didn't want to hear anything else. You said you couldn't handle anymore."

Joe rubbed his fingers hard across his forehead. "I'll give you that one, I did say that. Hey Peter, is Jessica there?"

Alex watched her father, she could tell her aunt Jessica wasn't there just from the look on his face.

"What about Mel?" Joe asked. "Whose her boyfriend?"

Alex turned and started walking out the kitchen, she didn't want to hear this. Her father was going to explode, he was showing all the signs.

"Jesus Peter. That shit she is seeing is twenty-seven, not eighteen."

Alex went into the living room and sat down in Joe's recliner, Brogan had followed her. Alex looked at her. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not the one who is getting fucked by him."

"No you aren't. But it is also wrong Alex. He's an adult and is taking advantage of your cousin."

Alex snorted. "Fat chance of that. Melinda is the one who started that shit with him, because I wouldn't give him the time of day."

"That still doesn't make it right Alex. His job was to get in and get near you at that table. Not start something with your cousin thinking that would probably get you jealous or something. Knowing Brady, I bet that was what he was trying to do."

Alex laughed. "Why would I ever get jealous of him being with Melinda?"

"Because he probably thought you wanted to fit in more with the crowd that is popular at school. He told me for two days of watching you, you watch Melinda like a hawk. He said one day you had a look like you wanted to join their table but didn't."

"It's because Mooch was sitting at the table. Melinda asked him to come have lunch with her." Alex leaned her head back on the recliner. "I didn't want to go over there because of her. I wanted to see Mooch."

"Then Brady had it wrong."

"You think." Alex said. She looked toward the hall her father was sitting over on the stairs watching them.

"Has Brady tried anything with you?" Joe asked.

"No. He's made a few comments, nothing else. I've told him leave every time, if he wouldn't. I did."

"That's why you went for a ride Saturday." Joe stated.

"Yeah, I couldn't handle anymore. I had to get away."

Joe grinned. "About that, both of us need to work on that one. We have that habit we need do that differently."

Alex got up and walked over to him. "I'll try, but I'm not making promises. I was ready to beat the crap out of them. I walked away so I wouldn't hurt them." She bent down and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to call Jose now."

"Go ahead." Joe put his forehead on hers. "You handled that correctly, I'm proud of you for controlling your anger. But when you know something that is not right, come talk to me before it gets worse."

"I'll try."

"That's all I ask."


	13. Chapter 13

Alex flopped down on her bed and pulled the phone off the night stand. She dialed Jose's cell phone.

"Hello."

"Hi."

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Alex could almost hear the smile he had on his face.

"Yeah. I can't believe I slept that long." She looked up at the ceiling.

"Have any dreams?"

Alex snorted, "No, not that can remember. I'm glad I didn't. I hate my dreams you know that."

"And?"

Alex looked at the phone, Jose wasn't doing his normal drilling of her. She put the phone back, "I don't like how vivid everything is." She let out a slow breath, "I hate seeing his eyes, the crazed look he had. It frightens me."

"Why?"

Alex closed her eyes, "Because he always did. His appearance changed throughout the years. He changed the way he looked. He did shit to me all the time. All because I was I wasn't his kid. Because I belonged to Dad." Alex sat up. "But I don't get that. Why did he do that? Why didn't he try to make me love him instead? That would have hurt Dad more."

"You are correct. He would have hurt your dad more if he had done that. But he didn't. He chose to hurt you, try to control you, make you fear him, which he accomplished that. You still fear him, even after you killed him. Why do you think that is?"

Alex picked up the pen that was on the nightstand and started twirling it in her fingers. "I don't know."

"Control, he still has control. It's time for you to get it back."

"How?" She stopped twirling the pen when Bob trotted into her room and jumped on the bed with her. Alex started scratching him behind his ears.

"Have you started writing in that journal I gave you?"

"No."

Bob rolled over to his back and Alex started scratching his stomach.

"Start. Talk to your dad. You need to learn more about your dad. You need to learn why Jason wanted to do the things he did. You start learning about that, you'll start to understand why he did the things he did. Once you understand that, you get control back."

Alex didn't say anything, but kept scratching Bob thinking. "I like learning things about dad. Not him though."

She heard the sigh. "How did you get the gun?"

Alex closed her eyes, "I don't remember."

"Where was it? Think Alex, you do remember, you are blocking it."

Alex started grinding her teeth. Her breathing picked up, Bob started wiggling on the bed till he was sitting up and licked her cheek and started whining.

"Where was the gun? You had it in your hands."

Alex tumbled back into the room in her memory. "It was in the holster on her body." Bile rose up and Alex tossed the phone away as she bolted off the bed for bathroom. Bob started barking frantically. The smell of the hotel room in China washed over her again as Alex lunged for the toilet. She had blocked out how bad that room reeked, how a body defecated right after the life went out of it. Her stomach churned as she emptied the contents of it.

She heard someone coming up the stairs. She felt the other person in the room.

"Kitten, you okay?"

Alex shook her head. The sound of running water and then it going back off filled the room. Alex felt the wet washrag on the back of her neck as she hugged the toilet.

"It's going to be alright." Joe told her. "Get me another wet washrag Brogan."

Alex felt Joe pull her back, her head rested on his chest. Brogan flushed the toilet and knelt down and handed Joe the rag. Joe cleaned Alex's face.

"What were you and Jose talking about?" Joe asked.

"The gun." Alex said.

She saw the look on Brogan's face. Not fully understanding.

"What did he ask?" Joe continued.

"He wanted to know where it was." Alex closed her eyes. "How I got it."

She felt her father envelope her, he kissed her forehead. "You remembered where it was didn't you?"

Alex nodded.

"When you got that back, the smell of the room came too, didn't it?" Joe asked.

Alex nodded. She felt Joe's hand under her chin as he tilted her face up. She opened her eyes and saw those chocolate brown orbs.

"You didn't eat for two days, you wouldn't get out of bed, and you wouldn't talk. I was worried sick about you. Jose showed up the next day. We got you eating, and out of bed, but you still wouldn't talk. You can't keep this inside anymore Kitten. It's time to get it all out."

Joe reached up and stroked her hair. "What do you remember now?"

"He had you tied to the chair."

"Yeah he did. What else?"

"He sent Bella from the room, you got loose. You hit him with the chair."

Joe wiped the tears that fell down Alex's cheeks.

"I was fighting for you. He was going to hurt you, he wanted to kill you and make me watch it. What happened after that?"

"I kicked him, and then Bella…she…" Alex buried her face into Joe's chest. Joe rocked her as Alex broke down. He heard Bob barking down stairs.

"I'll check on that." Brogan said.

"It's going to be okay, Kitten." Joe told her. He looked up and saw Jose standing in the doorway.

"I take it she remembered where the gun was."

Joe nodded. "More than that. I think she got all of it back." Joe kept rocking her.

******

Alex bowed to the black belt board. It was Tuesday, over the last year she had to run through her belts over again. The only real fun part of it had been having Joe start in the school as well. She obtaining her fourth gup back tonight. Last night had been a very long night, Jose had come over, between him and dad she had relived killing Bella and Blade all over again. Jose and her dad didn't want her doing the test. Alex fought with them, she was doing the test. This was normal, this was fun, this was her life.

The master in the school stood, "Cheon-Ji."

Alex bowed again, took two steps back, then one to the left to place herself where she needed to be in order to stay on the mat. She came up to the starting position and held her stance. The master in the school sat still, Alex waited for the command. It was a test of wills, and of nerves. No movement could be made until he gave the order.

"Begin."

She performed "heaven and earth", the meaning of the kata. The very first kata she had ever learned, nineteen movements, low blocks, punches, and inside-out middle blocks. The kata was easy, no kicks nothing real hard, but perfection was required. She ended with the last stance, a right for-balance with her right fist punched out and yell. Once again she had to stay in that position until commanded to move.

"Dan-Gun."

Alex ended up performing, Cheon-Ji, Dan-Gun, Do-San, Won-Hyo, Yul-Gok, Jung-Geun, and Toi-Gye. Toi-Gye, had the most movements, thirty-seven. She then was made to go through every punch, block, and kick, all the way through blue belt material. She landed on her feet after the last kick waiting for the next command.

"Gear Up."

She bowed and quickly went to her gear bag. Joe had it open, Alex sat down and lifted the right pant leg of the white gi to put on her shin guard. Joe worked on the left one.

"Get a drink. Not to much though." Joe told her.

"I'm okay." Alex grinned at him and wiped the sweat off her brow. "This is easy. Six one on one fights, and two, two on one. No problems." She said as she grabbed her hand gear.

Alex heard the chime above the door and turned to look to see who came inside. Havoc gave her a slight nod and then moved to stand against the wall. She gave him a nod back. Joe looked over.

"What is he doing here?"

Alex stood up and grabbed the head gear and her mouth piece. "Not a clue, probably heard I was testing. He always watched me before on test nights." She strapped the head gear on and put the mouth piece in. "Party time."

She left Joe who shook his head at her last comment. She turned around and found Master Lee in the middle of the mat geared up. They bowed to one another, Master Lee was her size, but she didn't want to meet this man in a dark alley. Looks were totally deceiving when it came to him.

"Begin."

The fight with Master Lee ended up going four minutes, and then Mr. Jacobs entered. To Alex it was all a blur until Master Lee and Master Santos was on the floor together. Steven came from the left, Master Lee was coming from the right. This was the second two on one fight. Alex grabbed Steven's gi top and flipped him so he was in Master Lee's way. The object of the fight was to make it a one on one, using the third member who was in play as block. Master Lee hopped over Steven as he rolled and Alex then planted both of her feet into Master Lee's chest. She realized her error as soon as she did it. He grabbed her feet and her moment had her slamming into the mat. She hit the mat with her fist angry with herself for letting her guard down with Master Lee. He wasn't letting go of her feet and swiveled around, Steven was up and coming at her. She grabbed his right leg in time and yanked it as his right was coming down for a kick, but it was enough for him to lose his balance and he had to skip, hop and hop before he got his balance again. Time was called when she had only just gotten one foot out of Master Lee's grasp and was about to kick. Master Lee grabbed her foot that was in mid air.

"Your feet is where all your power is. Never let your power get trapped." He released her foot.

"Yes Master."

Steven held out his gloved hand to her, Alex took it and he hoisted her off the mat. "Good job."

Alex got back in place where she had started at the beginning of the test. She bowed to the board.

"Dismissed." Master Lee said.

She would know to tomorrow if she got her 4th gup belt. That was the way it was. She walked over to Joe as she started taking off her gear.

"He trapped you with that last kick you tried." Joe said.

"I know." Alex through the head gear in the bag and then spit out the mouth piece into the box and closed it. She looked over to the door, Havoc nodded at her again and started for the door.

"Be right back." Alex tossed her hand gear into the bag and started off the mat, she turned and bowed before stepping off and then took off out the door. She didn't pay attention to Joe calling out to her. She looked around and saw Havoc walking over to his car. Alex trotted out after him. "Havoc."

Havoc turned around. "Shade."

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she got closer to him.

"Just watching." Havoc replied as he looked over her shoulder.

Alex looked back, Joe stood outside the door of the school and was watching. Alex looked back at Havoc.

"Word on the street is your old man is Morelli."

"That's right. He is."

Havoc reached out and put a wet curl behind her ear. "I like your hair this way."

"Don't touch what isn't yours."

Alex spun around, she had expected her dad to say something, but that wasn't his voice. She looked up at Siloh. "Relax Siloh, no harm done."

Alex looked back at Havoc, it was like being in between two male alpha dogs ready to fight over a piece of meat.

"Who is this Shade?" Havoc asked.

"His name is Siloh. I met him over the summer, moved in with his uncle and aunt. He got transferred to my school. He'll be around awhile." Alex said.

Alex watched as Havoc assessed Siloh. She didn't need these two going to blows at the moment. That was the last thing she wanted. She walked over to Havoc. "Look at me."

Havoc looked down at her. "Who is he?"

"Like I said. He's new in town, last thing he needs is trouble. He's mine. You got me?"

Havoc crossed his arms over his chest. "That works only on my turf. He's a free agent in no man's land."

Alex shook her head, "fine, you want him. Take him." She turned around and started walking back to the karate school. "Siloh, meet Havoc. He likes you, can't see why, but he does."

Siloh glanced at Alex and then back to Havoc. She glanced back as both of them started talking. Alex walked over to Joe who had her gear bag and her street clothes to change back into. "How do you think its going?" Joe asked.

"Not a clue, but Havoc wants him." Alex grabbed her clothes.

Joe pulled her in for a hug and Alex looked up at him. "What did Havoc say when he touched you?"

Alex grinned up at Joe, "He liked my hair this way."

"So do I, you look more like Sarah with it around your shoulders." Joe kissed her on the forehead. "Take a shower so we can go."


	14. Chapter 14

All stories are on Hiatus for the moment. Life has come into play and I have found myself with less time to write. I am sorry about having to do this. Please bear with me and as soon as time becomes available I'll be picking back up stories as I can.


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